■  ■  >  *.  “  -/‘.- 


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< ■  ••'  sr  -  r  >.,  • 

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^he  Influence  of  the  Jem? 


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J^he  JlFogFe??  of  the  WofIcL 


A  LECTURE  PRONOUNCED 


By  SIMON  WOLF, 


-'  •■  .'  C**  -•  A-*-. 

•-..  4>»  >  'VvT^  A 


'•>*'••••- 


•Jhe  Influence  of  the  Jeuu 


ON 


'pKigpe^  of  the  World. 


A  LECTURE  PRONOUNCED 


By  SIMON 


/ 

WOLF 


9 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


April  1st,  1888. 


At  the  urgent  request  of  many  friends,  I  herewith  offer  to 
the  public  an  address  first  delivered  in  Washington,  D.  C., 
before  the  “  Schiller  Bund,”  and  subsequently  in  many  cities 
of  the  Union.  I  have  now  revised  it;  in  fact  made  it  almost  a 
new  lecture;  and  it  is  an  attempt  to  answer  recent  scurrilous 
anti-Semitic  speeches  and  publications. 

I  lay  no  claim  to  originality;  only  hope  that  it  may  inspire 
others  who  are  far  more  capable  to  do  better.  One  thing  I 
can  truthfully  say — that  months  of  weary  labor  have  been 
devoted  to  this  work;  and  if  it  causes  a  single  person  to 
modify  his  opinion  in  favor  of  the  Jews,  I  am  more  than 
compensated. 

SIMON  WOLF. 


Washington,  D.  C.,  April  /,  1888. 


“If  there  are  ranks  in  suffering,  Israel  takes  the  precedence  of  all 
the  nations ;  if  the  duration  of  sorrows  and  the  patience  with  which 
they  are  borne  ennoble,  the  Jews  are  among  the  Aristocracy  of  every 
land;  if  a  like  nation  is  called  rich  in  the  possession  of  a  few  classic 
tragedies,  what  shall  we  say  to  a  national  tragedy  lasting  for  fifteen 
hundred  years,  in  which  the  poets  and  the  actors  were  also  the  heroes.” 
— George  Egiot,  in  Daniel  Deronda. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

Before  I  enter  into  the  merits  of  my  discourse,  allow 
me  to  briefly  say  that  whatsoever  will  fall  from  my  lips 
to-night  is  not  intended  to  humiliate  the  Christian  or 
for  the  purpose  of  elevating  the  Jew.  Whenever  I  shall 
speak  of  facts,  they  will  be  historical,  leaving  it  to  your 
intelligence  to  construe,  your  imagination  to  color  them. 
My  purpose,  as  far  as  in  my  power  lies,  is  to  disabuse 
the  minds  of  many,  to  gratify  the  hate  and  pride  of  no 
one,  but,  if  possible,  to  instruct  all,  for  I  have  found  in 
my  experience  that  the  American  Christians,  no  matter 
how  intellectual  they  may  be,  have  but  an  uncertain 
idea  as  to  the  history  and  characteristics  of  the  Jews. 
Some  years  ago  I  had  to  see  the  late  Charles  Sumner. 
The  burden  of  our  conversation  was  the  then  condition 
of  the  Jews  in  Roumania,  and  I  found  he  knew  more  of 
the  Negro  in  Africa  than  of  his  Jewish  fellow-citizen  in 
America;  and  from  an  intended  interview  of  ten  minutes, 
it  spun  itself  out  to  hours— he,  as  usual,  anxious  to  be 
enlightened,  and  not  ashamed  to  concede  his  want  of 
knowledge.  And  what  was  true  of  this  gifted  statesman 
is  equally  true  of  the  majority  of  men — their  knowledge 
is  either  legendary  or  sectarian. 

The  subject  is  one  that  naturally  lies  nearest  to  my 
heart,  one  that  has  engrossed  every  fibre  of  my  being, 


6 


grown  with  my  growth,  until  it  has  assumed  proportions 
commanding  and  yet  pleasing. 

I  sincerely  hope  that  in  the  brief  time  allotted  I  may, 
to  some  extent,  give  you  a  pen-picture  of  a  people  that 
will  live  in  your  memory.  Live  in  honor  and  respect. 
Live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  the  noblest  and  purest 
of  your  aspirations.  Not  the  Jew  as  a  Chatham  street 
merchant,  which  character  he  has  in  common  with 
every  race.  Not  the  Jew  as  the  warrior  who  by  the 
sword  conquers  and  causes  misery  to  millions, — but  the 
Jew  who,  by  the  sword  of  truth,  cleaves  the  mail  of 
error  and  bigotry,  who,  with  the  torch  of  light  and 
morality,  illuminates  the  highways  and  by-ways  of  the 
world’s  busy  mart ;  in  short,  the  man-Jew,  the  citizen 
of  a  great  and  enlightened  Republic  in  the  highest  and 
best  characteristics  of  manhood.  There  is  no  tyranny 
more  exacting  than  the  proverb  which,  coined  *by  the 
brain  alchemists  of  every  age,  passes  into  daily  life  a 
sovereign  to  dictate  and  to  awe  into  silence  truth  and 
every  embodiment  of  fact.  From  this  tyranny  no  people 
has  suffered  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  Jewish,  from 
the  dawn  of  earliest  history  up  to  the  present  day.  We 
are  the  constant  target  against  which  not  alone  every 
whipper-in,  but  the  noblest  huntsmen  have  levelled 
their  arrows  of  thought — arrows,  alas,  too  often  tipped 
by  the  poison  of  hate,  envy,  malice,  and  bigotry. 

Shakespeare,  “the  noblest  Roman,”  Dickens,  and 
others  have  catered  to  a  taste  depraved,  to  a  feeling 
unjust;  but,  nevertheless,  “Shylock  and  Fagin,”  instead 
of  being  recognized  as  types  of  wretched,  debauched, 
dissolute,  or  revengeful  manhood,  are  held  up  as  the 
standard  of  Jewish  morality  and  want  of  character. 

Intolerance,  with  its  legendary  absurdities,  aids  by 
bringing  in  the  myth  of  the  “Wandering  Jew”  to  prove 
that  he  lacks  the  feelings  of  common  hospitality  and 
charity.  And  thus  a  people  which  saw  creation  in  its 


7 

/ 

inception,  which  have  kept  pace  with  the  strides  of 
history,-  is  defamed,  traduced,  and  persecuted.  It  is  a 
poor  commentary  on  the  intelligence  of  our  age,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  this  country,  that  the  Jew,  as  he  stands  out 
in  the  world  of  morals  and  thought,  is  so  little  known, 
so  little  appreciated,  and  yet  but  for  him  there  would 
be  no  morals  to  preserve.  He  has  been  and  is  the  great 
conservator;  others  have  fallen  by  the  wayside;  he  has 
kept  right  on;  no  sectarian  bias  has  caused  him  to 
swerve  from  the  path  of  duty;  his  religion,  pure  and 
simple,  instead  of  being  a  burden,  has  been  an  impulse 
aiding  him  to  break  through  the  dark  clouds  of  preju¬ 
dice;  and,  as  every  great  writer  now  concedes,  it  was 
the  Jew  who  throughout  the  dark  ages  preserved  intact 
the  glorious  treasures  of  literature  and  science.  And 
to-day  he  stands  in  countries  where  his  reason  has  full 
sway  the  peer  of  the  best,  the  inferior  of  no  one. 

And  yet  there  exists  “  the-harping-on-his-daughter  ” 
grudge  of  by-gone  ages.  Not  a  day  passes  that  we  do 
not  meet  it,  either  in  our  business  pursuits  or  in  our 
social  intercourse;  not  only  from  those  whose  inborn 
ignorance  is  their  excuse,  but  also  in  those  whose  read- 
ings  have  taken  a  wide  range  and  who  claim  to  be  cos¬ 
mopolitan.  And  to  this  deplorable  fact  no  one  has 
contributed  more  than  the  Press,  and  not  only  the  Press, 
but  even  our  lexicographers.  The  Jew  is  treated  by 
both  with  that  contempt  which  is  either  the  offspring 
of  ignorance  and  bigotry,  or  what  is  in  a  public  educator 
far  worse — indifference  or  carelessness. 

To  deride,  to  jeer,  to  make  the  Jew  the  shaft  of  sense¬ 
less  wit,  has  been  a  welcome  task  to  many  of  our  jour¬ 
nals;  to  define  the  word  Jew  as  one  who  cheats,  defrauds, 
nay,  “steals,”  a  standing  definition  sent  broadcast  by 
Webster  and  Worcester;  and  only  recently  have  these 
unjust  words  been  eliminated,  owing  to  the  efforts  of 
our  esteemed  fellow-citizen,  one  of  my  correligionists, 


8 


the  honored  A.  S.  Solomons,  Esq.,  of  Washington. 
The  cruel  words  have  taken  deep  root,  however;  and, 
whether  stricken  out  or  not,  they  live,  and  have  their 
being  in  the  hearts  of  those  whose  prejudice,  like  Ban- 
quo’s  ghost,  “will  not  down.”  The  evil  does  not  lie 
in  the  definition  of  words,  but  in  the  want  of  knowledge 
and  liberality.  Unfortunately,  owing  to  the  same 
causes,  the  Jew  is  looked  upon  as  an  alien  to  refine¬ 
ment,  a  pariah  to  patriotism,  an  outcast  to  social  life,  in¬ 
capable  of  higher  aims  and  objects  other  than  the  sordid 
ones  of  amassing  wealth  or  bribing  themselves  into 
power.  Some  of  the  prejudice  prevalent  in  the  United 
States  against  the  Jew  is  to  be  traced  and  has  its  origin 
in  the  German  emigrant.  Many  coming  here  have  had 
but  little  education  or  refinement;  they  remember  the 
Jew  in  his  old  home  as  the  outcast  of  society;  they 
cannot  tolerate  the  idea  that  the  Jew  should  be  treated 
with  decency;  they  grow  envious  of  his  wealth  and 
public  worth,  and  embrace  every  opportunity  to  insin¬ 
uate  those  stale  and  bigoted  ideas  which  at  one  time 
disgraced  Germany  and  proved  a  source  of  such  great 
sorrow  and  misfortune  to  the  Jew,  and  have  been 
used  as  a  political  trick  by  the  Iron  Chancellor.  Thank 
Heaven,  Frederick  the  Third  has  already  proclaimed 
his  abhorrence  of  such  methods.  Let  it  be  my  pleasant 
duty  to  show  you  who  the  Jew  is;  why  he  was  perse¬ 
cuted;  the  logical  sequence  of  that  persecution;  his 
standing  in  countries  where  oppressed — in  countries 
where  free;  also  to  show  you  how  much  he  has  con¬ 
tributed  to  the  world’s  progress;  and  that  instead  of 
being  an  object  of  pity  or  derision,  he  should,  as  he 
deserves  to,  be  admired,  esteemed,  and  cultivated.  I 
shall  not  dwell  on  religious  themes  to  proselyte — shall 
only  touch  upon  them  as  they  are  necessary  to  com¬ 
plete  the  picture;  nor  shall  I  spare  the  foibles  and  follies 
of  my  people,  for,  human  as  they  are,  they  have  human 


9 


failings ;  and  to  have  them  treated  on  the  score  of  hu¬ 
manity,  and  not  upon  the  senseless  phrase  “What 
more  can  you  expect ;  he  is  a  Jew’  is  the  aim  and 
purpose  of  my  discourse. 

In  quoting  from  many  writers,  I  shall  not  let  a  single 
Jew  speak.  Christians  born,  or  those  who  became 
such,  shall  alone  tell  the  story  of  our  woes  and  glory. 

I  shall  not  discuss  the  Bible  characters  one  by  one, 
but  simply  ask,  what  character  in  history  is  equal  to 
that  of  Moses?  How  grandly  he  looms  up.  No  figure 
on  the  canvas  of  time  surpasses  him  in  knowledge  and 

the  ethics  of  life. 

He  laid  broad  and  deep  those  furrows  in  the  field  of 
morality  and  law  from  which  have  sprung  seeds  of 
eternal  youth  and  order.  On  Sinai’s  mount  were  given 
to  the  children  of  men  the  sublime  tenets  that  underlie 
the  safety  and  welfare  of  society,  and  which  have  done 
more  for  the  world’s  progress  than  aught  else.  The 
belief  in  a  Supreme  Being,  not  one  of  clay,  wood,  or 
brass,  but  a  spiritual  one,  was  there  inculcated.  The 
using  of  His  holy  name  in  vain  interdicted.  The  keep¬ 
ing  of  the  Sabbath  made  obligatory.  The  honoring  of 
father  and  mother  made  the  chief  cardinal  virtues,  in 
contradistinction  of  the  then  usages  to  kill  old  patents 
or  throw  them  to  the  wild  beasts.  The  mother  when  a 
widow  became  the  slave  of  the  eldest  son.  The  laws  of 
Moses  gave  her  the  same  honor,  love,  and  obedience  as 
when  the  father  lived.  Life  was  at  a  discount;  hence  in 
trumpet  tones  the  law,  u  Thou  shalt  not  kill.  Society 
suffered  from  licentious  vices.  Virtue  among  females 
was  unknown;  hence  the  warning,  “Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery.”  Theft  and  perjury  were  condemned, 
and  even  the  evil  thoughts  were  declared  sinful.  How 
the  2,000  years  of  Indian  and  Egyptian  history  dwindle 
into  insignificance  compared  to  that  moment  on  Sinai. 
The  Pyramids  built  up  by  the  tears  and  agony  of  slaves 


16 

are  nothing  but  rude  stones  to  point  the  moral  of  man’s 
inhumanity;  but  the  laws  of  Moses  were  the  pillars  on 
which  the  temple  of  virtue  and  morality  was  erected. 
It  was  the  birth-hour,  not  only  of  the  Jewish  people, 
but  of  the  world.  The  simple  and  yet  deep  truths  of  a 
spiritual  God,  one  who  aids  the  enslaved  and  oppressed, 
the  honoring  of  parents,  the  respecting  of  your  neigh¬ 
bor’s  household  and  property,  the  horror  and  infamy 
of  telling  a  lie, — these,  and  much  more,  were  first  enun¬ 
ciated  by  Moses,  and  with  these  a  new  discovery  was 
made:  Man  examining  himself  by  the  light  of  these  di¬ 
vine  laws  found  that  he  had  a  conscience.  It  is  true 
other  nations  made  laws  before  and  after,  but  they  were 
based  on  oppression;  had  for  their  object  slavery — not 
only  physical,  but  mental.  On  Sinai’s  mount  was  first 
proclaimed  equality  and  freedom.  To  Moses  we  owe 
the  Republican  form  of  Government,  the  forming  of  a 
Senate  composed  of  select  men;  the  election  of  tried  and 
trusted  elders  to  advise  and  counsel  had  their  being- 
with  him.  The  appointing  of  judges  also,  to  whom  he 
gave  the  all-important  advice  to  be  ever  just,  not  only 
to  the  Israelite,  but  also  to  the  stranger.  * 

They  should  not  respect  title,  but  honor  all  alike, 
shun  bribery,  and  do  their  duty  fearlessly.  The  love  of 
your  neighbor,  fraternity,  equality,  mercy,  and  justice 
were  the  ideals  which  Moses  placed  before  his  people. 
It  was  a  golden  era ;  it  was  the  betrothal  of  Israel  to 
holy  and  pure  laws ;  and  they  have  in  the  face  of  all, 
after  persecutions,  remained  true  and  steadfast,  depart¬ 
ing  from  these  precepts  only  when  their  tyrants  and 

*  [How  different  the  conduct  of  a  U.  S.  judge  who,  presiding  in 
Richmond,  Va.,  in  charging  a  jury  while  two  Jews  were  on  trial,  said  : 
“  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  the  defendants  at  the  bar  are  Jews,  and  that 
implies  everything.”  Was  there  ever  anything  more  infamous?  And 
right  here  let  me  say  that  this  has  grown  into  a  deplorable  evil  with 
both  bench  and  bar.] 


II 


oppressors  robbed  them  of  all  independent  action  and 
thought,  or  when  too  much  freedom  has  turned  their 
heads,  and  led  them  into  channels  of  materializing. 

Boast  of  your  Greek,  Roman  virtue  and  stoicism  ;  they 
fade  into  the  dim,  hazy  distance  compared  to  Moses.  Of 
him  it  can  be  said  that  no  charge  of  bribery  or  pecula¬ 
tion  was  ever  laid  to  his  door.  Rude  as  were  the  times, 
he  died  poor,  but  rich  in  the  love  of  his  people.  Sim¬ 
ple  as  he  had  lived  he  was  buried — no  one  knows 
where — so  as  to  teach  his  followers  that  God  alone 
should  be  worshipped — not  inanimate  clay  ;  no  pomp 
or  display  ;  both  were  foreign  to  his  nature.  The  world 
has  progressed  since  then,  but  such  a  character  could 
do  no  harm  in  these  days  of  statesmanship. 

The  Jews  began  as  nomads  migrating  “from  nation 
to  nation,  from  State  to  State.”  Their  laws  made  them 
agriculturists  for  fifteen  centuries.  Their  exile  has 
transformed  them  into  a  mercantile  people.  They 
have  struggled  for  their  national  existence  against  the 
Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Syrians,  and  Ro¬ 
mans  ;  have  been  conquered  and  nearly  exterminated  by 
each  of  these  powers,  and  have  survived  them  all. 
They  have  been  oppressed  and  persecuted  by  Emperors 
and  Republics,  Sultans  and  Popes,  Moors  and  Inquisit¬ 
ors.  They  were  proscribed  in  Catholic  Spain,  Protestant 
Norway,  and  Greek  Muscovy  ;  while  their  persecutors 
sang  the  hymns  of  their  psalmists,  revered  their  books, 
believed  in  their  prophets,  and  even  persecuted  them 
in  the  name  of  their  God.  And  it  can  be  truthfully 
said  that  the  Helots  of  Sparta,  the  Pariahs  of  India, 
the  Moslems  of  Turkey,  the  Negroes  of  America,  have 
suffered  less  than  the  Jews  in  Christian  Europe. 

The  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  persecuted,  not 
only  for  their  money,  but  also,  as  Goethe  says  to  Ecker- 
man,  “Because  they  believed  in  God  and  Nature,  and 
in  the  victory  of  the  good  over  the  bad  and  yet  the 


12 


Christians  who  persecuted  were,  as  Schiller  says  * 
“They  preached  love  of  your  neighbor,  and  cursed 
from  their  doors  the  hoary-headed  blind.”  And  yet 
we  are  justified  in  claiming  that  from  the  earliest  dawn 
of  Jewish  history,  the  Jews  of  all  the  nations  were  the 
pioneers  of  civilization,  the  progenitors  of  religion  and 
morals,  for  Herodotus  and  Strabo  tell  us  that  the 
Egyptians  and  Syrians,  and  in  fact  all  of  the  nations 
surrounding  the  Jews,  worshipped  idols,  and  had 
monthly  and  yearly  festivals  where  prostitution  and 
bacchanalian  rites  formed  the  worship.  So  debasing  and 
vicious  were  their  habits,  that  children  of  tender  age 
became  as  degraded  as  their  elders  ;  and  in  spite  of  all 
these  surroundings,  Israel  remained  firm  in  its  faith, 
worshipped  the  great  Jehovah,  and  practiced  those  vir¬ 
tues  which  to-day  are  its  greatest  pride.  It  is  to  them 
the  world  owes  religion  in  all  its  purity,  morality  in 
all  its  elevation,  and  history  in  all  its  teachings.  And 
as  the  women  of  Israel  in  those  degenerate  days  were 
pious,  true,  and  virtuous,  so  they  have,  with  rare  excep¬ 
tions,  remained,  moulding  and  training  their  offspring, 
and  stimulated  by  sentiments  of  love  and  devotion  for¬ 
eign  to  the  fashion  of  to-day.  And  what  greater  proof 
can  a  people  offer  as  to  their  influence  and  progress  than 
to  remain  stationary  in  the  paths  of  virtue?  America’s 
greatest  poet,  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  in  criticising  Booth’s 
Shylock,  thus  depicts  the  Jews  and  their  home-life  (and 
answers  the  accepted  version  of  Shylock  being  a  repre¬ 
sentative  Jew)  : 

“In  terming  Shylock  ‘the  Jew  whom.  Shakespeare 
drew,’  there  is  a  perfect  logic,  for  Shylock  is,  of  all 
Shakespeare’s  characters,  the  only  one  untrue  to  Na¬ 
ture.  He  is  not  a  Jew,  but  a  fiend  presented  in  the 
form  of  one ;  and  whereas  he  is  made  a  ruling  type,  he 
is  but  an  exception,  if  even  that,  and  the  exception 
is  not  to  be  met  with  either  in  the  Ghettos  of  Venice  or 
of  Rome.  Shakespeare  holds  up  the  love  of  money  that 


marks  the  race,  although  he  does  not  show  that  this 
passion  was  but  the  effect  of  that  persecution  which,  by 
crowding  the  Jew  out  of  every  honorable  pursuit,  and 
thus  cutting  off  his  nature  from  every  sympathy  with 
the  world  around,  sharpened  and  edged  the  keen  corners 
of  his  brain  for  the  only  pursuit  left  to  him. 

“  It  is  true  that  money-changers  once  spat  on  in  the 
Ghetto  are  now  hugged  in  the  palace.  But  we  fear  that 
it  is  not  so  much  that  the  prejudice  against  the  Jews 
has  ceased,  but  that  the  love  of  money  among  the 
Christians  has  increased.  Shakespeare  was  not  true  in 
the  picture  he  has  drawn  of  the  Jews,  cravings  for  re¬ 
venge,  and  in  the  contempt  with  which  he  is  treated 
by  his  daughter.  Revenge  is  not  a  characteristic  of  the 
Jew.  He  is  subject  to  sudden  fits  of  passion,  but  that 
intellect  which  always  stands  sentinel  over  the  Hebrew 
soon  subdues  the  gust.  However  strong  in  Shylock’s 
time  might  have  been  the  hatred  of  the  Jew  to  the 
Christian,  the  lust  of  lucre  was  more  strong,  and 
Shakespeare  might  have  ransacked  every  Ghetto  in 
Christendom  without  finding  a  Jew  who.  would  have 
preferred  a  pound  of  flesh  to  a  pound  sterling  (or  Chris¬ 
tian  either);  and  Jews  also  shrink  from,  physical  con¬ 
tests.  Their  disposition  is  to  triumph  by  intellect  rather 
than  violence.  It  was  this  trait  more  than  any  other 
which  rendered  them,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  so  repulsive 
to  the  masses,  who  were  all  of  the  Morrissey  and  mus¬ 
cular  Christianity  school.  The  contempt  of  a  daughter 
for  her  parent  is  equally  uncharacteristic  of  the  Jew. 
The  Jews  are  universally  admired  for  the  affections 
which  adorn  their  domestic  life.  The  more  they  have 
been  pushed  from  the  society  of  the  family  of  man  the 
greater  the  intensity  with  which  they  have  clung  to 

the  love  of  their  own  family. . 

“No  one  can  ever  have  visited  the  houses  of  the  Jews 
without  having  been  struck  by  the  glowing  affection 
with  which  the  daughter  greets  the  father  as  he  returns 
from  the  day’s  campaign  and  the  slights  and  sneers  his 
Gaberdine  and  yellow  cap  provoke,  and  without  observ¬ 
ing  how  those  small,  restless  ey  es,  that  sparkle  and  gleam, 
shine  out  in  a  softened,  loving  lustre  as  they  tall  upon 
the  face  of  Rebecca,  or  Jessica,  or  Sarah,  and  how  he 
stands  no  longer  with  crooked  back,  but  erect  and  com- 


H 


inanding,  as  he  blesses  his  household  Gods  with  an  ex¬ 
ultation  as  vehement  as  the  prejudices  which  during  the 
day  have  galled  and  fretted  his  nature.  To  do  justice 
to  the  grandeurs  of  the  Jewish  race,  and  to  brand  with 
infamy  its  infirmities,  it  is  not  enough  to  produce  a 
repulsive  delineation  of  the  latter.  It  would  only  be 
just  to  give  expression  to  the  former,  and  to  exhibit 
that  superiority  of  intellect  which  has  survived  all  per¬ 
secution,  and  which,  soaring  above  the  prejudices  of  the 
hour,  has  filled  us  with  reluctant  admiration  on  finding 
how  many  of  the  great  events  which  mark  the  progress 
of  the  age,  or  minister  to  its  improvements,  or  elevate 
its  tastes,  may  be  traced  to  the  wonderful  workings  of 
the  soul  of  the  Hebrew,  and  the  supremacy  of  that 
spiritual  nature  which  gave  to  mankind  its  noblest 
religion,  its  noblest  laws,  and  some  of  its  noblest  poesy 
and  music.” 

\ 

To  properly  appreciate  Jewish  progress,  one  must  read 
of  their  persecutions,  their  indomitable  courage;  and 
these,  as  told  by  Christian  writers,  fill  volumes.  I  cite 
a  few  only.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  history  of  the 
Jews  in  England,  prior  to  their  final  expulsion  in  1290, 
the  Historian  Blunt  savs: 

j 

“In  throwing  back  a  glance  over  the  facts  that  are 
stated  in  the  few  pages  of  the  preceding  narrative,  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  a  spirit  of  relentless  cruelty 
pervades  the  whole,  and  we  cannot  but  feel  that  the 
exactions  and  barbarities  which  are  there  recorded  mark 
an  indelible  stain  npon  that  period  of  our  history;  they 
are  blots  in  the  characters  of  the  successive  monarchs, 
and  are  painfully  indicative  of  the  cupidity,  ferocity, 
and  ignorance  of  the  people.  O11  the  other  hand,  we 
must  admit  that  the  conduct  of  the  Jews  themselves 
under  their  continuous  sufferings  and  oppressions,  while 
it  furnishes  a  fresh  example  of  the  characteristic  perse- 
verence  with  which  they  brave  all  dangers  and  diffi¬ 
culties  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  it  affords  a  further 
proof  of  the  resignation,  fortitude,  and  self-devotion  for 
which  their  nation  has  ever  been  distinguished. 

“It  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  notwithstanding  the 


i5 


bitter  and  vindictive  animosity  which  the  Christians  of 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  exhibited  against  the 
Hebrew  race,  the  expenses  of  the  Crusade  and  the  jour¬ 
ney  to  the  Holy  Land  were  defrayed  for  the  most  part 
by  means  of  robbery  and  plunder  of  the  wealthy  Jews, 
and  the  perpetration  of  the  most  cruel  outrages  upon 
the  people  that  ever  stained  the  annals  of  the  human 
race  at  any  period  of  the  world.  We  are  told  by  Sis- 
mondi,  in  his  ‘Comprehensive  History  of  the  Jews  in 
England,’  during  the  reign  of  Richard  the  First,  that 
the  crusaders,  being  ill-provided  with  funds,  and  hav¬ 
ing  persuaded  themselves  that  they  should  render  good 
service  to  God  by  resorting  to  any  means,  however 
iniquitous,  in  order  to  secure  the  success  of  the  Crusade 
to  Palestine,  they  commenced  an  indiscriminate  plun¬ 
der  of  the  houses  of  the  Jews,  subjecting  them  to  every 
species  of  cruelty,  and  even  to  death,  until  the  Jews, 
driven  to  desperate  resistance,  and  with  a  determination 
to  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  many  parallels  in 
history,  every  master  of  a  family  taking  a  knife,  cut  the 
throats  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  then  of  the  other 
members  of  his  house,  and  then  destroyed  himself..  The 
only  parallel  to  this  sublime  act  of  self-sacrifice  is  fur¬ 
nished  in  the  History  of  the  Jews  themselves.  It  is 
related  by  Millman,  in  his  History  of  the  Jews,  that, 
‘after  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  some  Jews  fled  to  Mas- 
sada,  where  they  were  besieged  by  the  Romans.  Find¬ 
ing  themselves  unable  to  withstand  their  attack,  they, 
at  the  instance  of  Eleazar,  their  commander,  destroyed 
themselves,  their  wives  and  children,  to  the  number  of 
960,  A.  C.  72. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  although  in  some  instances  a 
few  of  the  Jews  saved  themselves  by  professing  to  re¬ 
nounce  the  Jewish  faith,  which  in  reality  they  never  did, 
they  almost  unanimously  preferred  death  to  purchas¬ 
ing  their  lives  by  even  the  semblance  of  such  an  igno¬ 
minious  act  of  apostasy.  “Notwithstanding  all  that 
has  been  written  by  the  fanatical  Benco,”  says  De  Castro 
in  his  “History  of  the  Jews  of  Spain,”  to  please  the  gen¬ 
tlemen  of  the  Inquisition,  “when  I  reflect  upon  the 


i6 


constancy  of  the  Spanish  Jews  in  not  abandoning  their 
law,  in  spite  of  the  wrath  of  the  holy  office,  and  the 
courage  with  which  they  died  when  discovered  and 
brought  to  punishment,  I  call  to  mind  the  words  of 
Eopez  De  Aponta,  who,  when  carried  to  the  centre  of 
the  theatre  to  hear  his  sentence,  walked  with  a  haughty 
air  and  exclaimed:  ‘Welcome,  the  raging  billows  and 
violent  whirlwinds  to  buffet  me  at  thy  bidding.  We 
shall  continue  always  more  and  more  immovable,  and 
far  from  foundering  in  the  storm;  the  greater  the  dan¬ 
gers  that  surround  us,  the  more  freely  shall  we  breathe, 
for  the  Hebrew  does  not  easily  yield  to  wickedness  and 
degrade  himself  by  that  weakness  which  follows  its 
commission.  On  the  contrary,  in  proportion  to  the  at¬ 
tempts  made  by  tyrants  to  debase  him,  does  he  manifest 
the  greatness  of  his  soul.  We  are  sensible  to  pain  when 
our  bodies  are  tortured,  but  we  also  show  by  our  ex¬ 
ample  that  no  violence  can  compel  the  wise  man,  in 
violation  of  his  honor,  to  recede  from  his  opinion  and 
fixed  determination.  I  care  not -whether  thou  orderest 
me  to  be  tortured — the  driving  of  a  nail  into  my  head, 
impalest  me  alive,  crucifiest  me,  roastest  me  by  a  slow 
fire,  casteth  me  down  from  a  rock,  or  drownest  me  in 
the  depth  of  the  sea — for  in  the  end  I  shall  find  safety, 
and  appear  unhurt  in  the  presence  of  God.’  ”  “  Multi¬ 

tudes  who  witnessed  the  steadfastness  and  courage  with 
which  these  unfortunate  men  underwent  the  dreadful 
punishment  at  the  ‘bonefire,’”  continues  the  same 
writer,  “were  convinced  that  God  had  animated  their 
hearts  in  that  bitter  and  critical  moment,  and  that,  inas¬ 
much  as  they  obtained  such  a  blessing,  as  if  from  Heaven, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  they  died  in 
defense  of  the  truth.” 

But  not  only  in  Spain  and  England,  but  also  in  Ger¬ 
many,  Austria,  and  Bohemia,  was  the  Jew  plundered, 
tortured,  and  murdered,  and  all  in  the  name  of  Chris- 


i7 


tianity.  In  Frankfort,  Worms,  Mayence,  Prague,  and 
Vienna  their  treatment  was  identical  with  that  endured 
by  their  brethren  in  other  countries.  They  were  cooped 
up  in  a  single  street;  had  to  wear  a  badge  to  denote 
their  race;  could  hold  no  office,  practice  no  profession; 
only  amass  riches,  to  be  plundered  and  murdered.  But, 
as  Schiller  in  his  Tell  says,  so  they  hoped. 

UA  new  era  is  near  its  dawn;  the  old,  the  unworthy, 
departs;  other  days  are  approaching .  There  will  live  a 
different- thin  king  people.  ’ ’ 

There  is  certainly  no  nation  under  the  sun  whose  his¬ 
tory  can  be  more  interesting  than  that  of  the  Jews,  par¬ 
ticularly  that  portion  of  them  who,  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  emigrated  to  Spain,  and  for  many 
centuries  lived  in  that  land,  where — in  spite  of  the  in¬ 
sults,  the  hardships,  and  the  persecutions  which  they 
endured — they  cultivated  the  arts  and  sciences,  fed  the 
lamp  of  literature,  and  kept  it  continually  burning  for 
a  succession  of  ages.  It  is  to  them  that  Spain  owes  the 
great  advancement  she  made  in  medicine,  philosophy, 
mathematics,  and  navigation.  They  were  in  the  habit 
of  being  consulted  by  kings  on  the  most  difficult  and 
critical  affairs  of  State,  and  it  was  by  the  aid  of  their 
counsels  and  hard  cash  that  the  most  difficult,  the 
grandest,  and  most  hazardous  enterprises  were  under¬ 
taken.  The  voyage  of  Columbus  could  never  have 
been  made  had  it  not  been  for  Jewish  counsel,  Jewish 
ducats  ;  and  strange  it  is,  that  that  which  partly  caused 
their  misery,  was  to  be  the  means  of  discovering  a  land 
which  was  to  prove  to  their  descendants  and  to  mankind 
the  Jerusalem  of  the  Prophets.  Irving,  in  his  History 
of  Columbus,  states,  as  a  curious  coincidence,  that  the 
first  Spanish  soldier  that  stepped  on  American  soil  was 
Bopez  De  Castro,  a  Jew.  “  But  the  Jews  never  became 
lessjewish  for  their  residence  in  Spain,”  says  Bartolozzo, 


i8 


in  his  “Biblotheca  Magna  Rabinnica,”  “religion  form¬ 
ing  an  essential  constituent  in  their  individual  and  col¬ 
lective  existence.  They  combined  rapidly  by  ties  and 
motives  unknown  to  every  other  people.  They  had 
their  pride  and  privilege  as  the  elected  race,  and 
although  under  chastisement  for  a  time,  they  had  an 
intensity  of  association  depending  upon  a  language  and 
a  ritual  they  all  but  adored,  and  an  honorable  attach¬ 
ment  to  each  other  in  the  time  of  suffering.” 

To  show  how  humane  and  hospitable  the  Jews  were 
in  days  when  their  neighbors  were  savages,  the  gieat  and 
celebrated  Oriental  geographer  (Hankal)  describes,  with 
great  minuteness,  under  the  application  of  “Mower- 
al-narr,”  the  region  in  which  these  Jews  are  said  to 
have  been  discovered.  He  speaks  of  it  generally  as 
one  of  the  most  flourishing  and  productive  provinces 
within  the  dominion  of  Islam,  and  describes  the  people 
as  distinguished  for  purity  and  virtue,  as  averse  from 
evil,  and  fond  of  peace.  He  says  :  “  Such  is  their  lib¬ 
erality  that  no  one  turns  aside  from  the  rights  of  hospi¬ 
tality ;  so  that  a  person  contemplating  them  in  the  night 
would  imagine  that  all  the  families  in  the  land  were 
but  one  household.  When  a  traveller  arrives  there 
every  person  endeavors  to  attract  him  to  himself,  that 
he  may  have  opportunities  of  performing  kind  offices 
for  the  stranger.”  The  Arab  conquerors  of  Spain, 
having  freed  the  Jews  from  the  bondage  and  persecu¬ 
tions  of  the  Gothic  kings,  and  allowed  them  full  liberty 
to  live  according  to  the  Mosaic  law,  the  latter,  as  stated 
by  De  Castro  in  the  work  already  quoted,  “laid  the 
foundation  of  nurseries,  synagogues,  and  some  of  the 
most  celebrated  seats  of  learning  that  ever  flourished 
in  Spain.  The  barbarous  persecutions  against  the  Jews 
in  the  East  by  the  Caliph  Cadre,  of  the  dynasty  of  the 
Fraternities,  found  many  of  them  in  Spain  to  seek  the 
termination  of  their  misfortunes;  and  as  the  Hebrews 


i9 


who  lived  in  the  East  were  men  of  much  learning,  it 
resulted  that  the  greater  part  of  the  new  comers  to  these 
lands  began  to  adorn  them  with  their  writings,  and  to 
found  academies,  in  order  to  diffuse  among  the  people 
their  own  remarkable  knowledge  in  every  branch  of 
art  and  science.  The  first,  and  undoubtedly  the  most 
celebrated,  of  these  academies  was  established  in  the 
year  of  the  world  4708,  and  of  the  Christian  era  948,  at 
Cordova.  Its  founders  and  first  masters  were  Rabbi 
Moseh  and  his  son  Rabbi  Honor,  the  most  eminent  of 
the  sages  who  came  from  Pambedita  and  Medasia,  in 
Persia.  Several  of  the  Jews  of  the  Cordovese  Academy 
continued  to  enlighten  Spain  with  their  works  on  every 
description  of  science.  For  example,  those  of  Abraham 
Haben  Hezra,  a  philosopher,  astronomer,  physician, 
poet,  grammarian,  cabalist  the  most  learned  of  his 
persuasion  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Sacred  Book, 
and,  finally,  the  inventor  of  the  method  of  dividing  the 
celestial  globe  into  two  equal  parts  by  means  of  the 
equator.  ’  ’ 

The  Retrospective  Review ,  in  -an  able  and  comprehen¬ 
sive  article  on  the  condition  of  the  early  Jews,  remarks  : 

‘  ‘  This  early  and  afterwards  diversified  cultivation  of 
literature  and  science  raised  them  to  a  positive  stand¬ 
ing  in  the  intelligence  of  Europe,  so  high  that  it  has 
been  said  we  have  never  yet  repaid  our  debt  of  grate¬ 
ful  acknowledgment  to  the  illustrious  Hebrew  scholars 
of  Cordova,  Seville,  and  Granada.” 

I11  alluding  to  the  “Masora,”  a  versification  of  every 
“jot  and  title”  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  in  a  diversity 
of  modes,  for  the  finding  of  a  full  and  exact  text  of  the 
holy  record,  the  same  erudite  writer  says  : 

“This  prodigious  effort  of  patient  industry,  this  sin¬ 
gle  work,  demands  from  the  learned  of  every  age  that 
the  Jews  be  considered  as  eminently  a  literary  people, 
a  character  which  they  have  not  failed  to  uphold,  ever 


20 


since,  those  early  ages — early  to  us ;  but  the  Jews  were 
already  fathers  in  literature  before  one  of  the  present 
nations  of  Europe  had  its  existence.  To  estimate  their 
value  in  this  respect  we  must  travel  back  by  an  astound¬ 
ing  climax  through  the  Genlara  and  Mishna,  the  Hel¬ 
lenic  Jewish  writings  of  Josephus,  Philo,  the  Septuagist, 
the  Maccabees,  through  the  minor  prophets  to  Nehe- 
miah,  who  wrote  140  years  before  Henophon,  to  Isaiah, 
700  years  before  Virgil,  to  the  Proverbs  and  Psalms,  1040 
years  before  Horace,  to  Ruth,  1030  years  before  Theoc¬ 
ritus,  and  to  Moses,  above  1,000  years  the  precursor  of 
Herodotus.  ” 

Among  the  eminent  Jewish  writers  who  achieved 
distinction  during  the  many  centuries  that  the  Hebrew 
race  exercised  their  salutary  influence  over  the  destinies 
of  Spain,  was  the  famous  historian  Pedro  Teixeira, 
whose  book,  entitled  “  De  el  Origen  Descendenica,” 
published  in  Antwerp  in  1610,  contains  the  best  account 
of  Persia  that  has  ever  been  written.  It  is  based  on  Per¬ 
sian  manuscripts,  and  particularly  the  chronicle  Terk- 
and.  (Teixeira  is  the  only  author  who  introduced 
foreign  names  into  the  Castilian  language  as  they 
were  written  and  pronounced  in  their  own.)  Another 
remarkable  writer  of  the  same  race  and  period  was  the 
Portuguese  Hebrew,  Garcia  Deostar,  the  first  person  who 
wrote  the  medical  history  of  the  East  Indies  under  the 
following  title  :  “Colloquies  on  the  drugs,  simples,  and 
medicinal  things  of  India.”  I11  this  work  he  not  only 
gives  his  own  observations  and  consulted  all  the  Greek, 
Latin,  and  Arabic  authors  who  have  written  on  the 
subject,  but  in  his  wanderings  through  the  Indies  com¬ 
municated  upon  it  with  the  best  and  most  distinguished 
Arab,  Persian,  Turkish,  Brahnimical,  Chinese,  and 
Malay  physicians.  But  it  would  fill  volumes  to  mention 
even  the  one  tithe  of  the  array  of  Hebrew  poets,  phi¬ 
losophers,  historians,  metaphysicians,  and  medical  com¬ 
posers  who  flourished  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centu- 


ries.  Hebrew  poetry  in  particular  was  cultivated  to  a 
great  extent ;  hymns  and  elegies  in  rhymes  of  that 
period  have  been  preserved  by  Buxtof,  Plantitius, 
Bartolomius,  and  others.  Malzan,  Draper,  Becky, 
Buckle,  and  Scherr  have  elaborately  shown  what  a 
debt  the  world  owes  to  the  Jews.  During  the  reign  of 
Abdallah,  king  of  Granada,  Jewish  learning  was  pur¬ 
sued  with  unparalleled  eagerness,  the  usual  result  of 
peace,  tolerance,  and  competence  of  wealth  ;  for,  as  Cow- 
per  expresses  it — 

“  Wisdom  is  a  pearl  with  most  success 
Sought  in  still  waters  and  beneath  clear  skies.” 

“To  such  a  pitch  of  misery,”  observes  the  Portuguese 
Historian  Camoens,  “were  these  kingdoms  reduced  by 
the  alarm  of  the  Jews  and  the  care  taken  by  them  to 
bury  their  treasures  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  that  the 
circulation  of  gold  and  silver  became  very  limited.  The 
stoppage  of  the  traffic  of  the  Jews  caused  the  ruin  of  all 
the  commerce  that  formerly  existed  in  the  realms  of 
Castile.  Agriculture  was  insufficiently  carried  on,  the 
Crown  was  without  resources,  for  the  coin  of  the  land 
was  secreted  in  the  coffers  of  the  Hebrews.  These  evils, 
as  before  stated,  originated  in  the  rash  measures,  em¬ 
ployed  against  all  reason  and  justice  by  the  monarch 
and  people,  for  the  conversion  of  the  numerous  Jews 
who  dwelt  in  these  lands ;  they  were  forbidden  to  prac¬ 
tice  medicine  and  surgery  ;  to  keep  their  houses  open 
for  traffic  with  Christians,  and  finally  to  dispose  of  their 
goods  and  persons  in  the  way  that  was  most  conducive 
to  their  own  interests.  The  Christians  reaped  the  fruits 
of  this  barbarous  policy  during  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Fourth  in  Castile,  for  to  this  policy  must  be  ascribed 
the  abandonment  of  commerce  by  the  Jews,  who  were 
the  only,  or  at  any  rate  the  principal,  persons  engaged 
in  it,  and  who  kept  it  alive  ;  and  as  its  destruction  arose 


22 


from  the  causes  I  have  mentioned,  the  ruin  of  agricul¬ 
ture  followed  in  its  rear,  the  kingdom  being  destitute 
of  these  two  principal  resources  which  the  body  of  state 
together  was  ultimately  reduced  to  the  greatest  weak¬ 
ness  and  distress.  This  miserable  policy  was  no  less 
injurious  to  literature  and  science  by  the  expulsion  of 
the  persecuted  race  from  the  land  of  their  adoption,  for, 
as  the  learned  Hebrews  from  the  Bast  and  other  parts  of 
the  world  had  been  mainly  instrumental  in  advancing 
the  cause  of  learning  and  education  in  Spain,  by  the 
introduction  of  literary  and  scientific  institutions,  so, 
when  forcibly  driven  out  of  the  kingdom  by  the  bar¬ 
barities  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  cruel  edicts  formu¬ 
lated  at  the  instigation  of  that  pernicious  body,  the  pall 
of  ignorance  and  darkness  fell  again  over  the  land.  ’  ’ 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  the  twelfth  cen¬ 
tury  was  the  birth  of  Rabbi  Moses  Bar  Maimon,  whose 
writings  exercise  a  wise  and  salutary  influence  to-day. 
He  was  the  great  reformer  of  those  days,  and  the  fore¬ 
runner  of  the  great  Mendelssohn  of  the  eighteenth  and 
of  Abraham  Geiger  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

“When  we  look  around  us,  and  calmly  contemplate 
the  present  condition  of  the  Hebrew  race  in  those  coun¬ 
tries,  where,  as  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  to 
a  considerable  extent  in  England  and  in  France,  the 
benign  influences  of  modern  civilization  have  been  al¬ 
lowed  full  sway,  and  compare  that  ameliorated  and  daily 
improving  condition  with  the  state  of  social  degrada¬ 
tion  which  these  persecuted  people  have  had  to  endure 
for  centuries,  in  consequence  of  the  barbarous,  enact¬ 
ments  of  wicked  and  oppressive  rulers,  we  feel,  indeed, 
as  if  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophesy  was  not  very  far 
distant.  ’  ’ 

Such  is  the  language  used  by  M.  de  Balzac  in  his 
“Histoire,”  a  work  lately  published  in  France.  In  a 
History  of  Jewish  Physicians,  translated  from  the 
French  of  B.  Carmoly  by  I.  R.  M.  Dunbar,  M.  D. ,  an 


American  physician,  late  professor  at  Baltimore,  he 
says  in  his  preface  : 

“It  was  believed  that  an  acceptable  service  would 
be  rendered  to  the  readers  of  the  journal  and  the  pro¬ 
fession  generally  by  translating  Cannoly’s  sketches 
of  men  so  distinguished  among  God’s  ancient  people 
for  their  medical  skill  and  personal  character.  It  will 
be  seen  that  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  due  to  them  for 
having  preserved  with  a  bright  and  steady  flame  the 
torch  of  science  through  the  gloomy  period  of  the  dark 
ages  of  the  world,  and  there  is  a  peculiar  pleasure  de¬ 
rived  from  doing  an  act  of  historical  justice,  long  aftei 
the  dust  of  centuries  has  settled  upon  their  memories, 
by  giving  the  due  meed  of  fame  to  those  who  toiled  and 
died  in  the  practice  of  a  noble  profession.” 

And  then  he  goes  on  and  gives  a  list  of  the  most  emi¬ 
nent  physicians  from  the  earliest  days  to  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries — showing  conclusively  that  to 
Jewish  physicians  the  world  owes  the  discovery  of  many 
diseases  and  many  of  its  cures,  and  the  nobility  and 
courage  that  characterized  them.  The  evidence  of  the 
rapidly-increasing  influence  which  the  Hebrew  race  is 
exercising  not  only  in  mercantile  affairs,  but  in  the 
higher  walks  of  mental  activity  in  literature,  in  science, 
and  in  the  councils  of  nations,  may  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  master  spirits  of  Europe,  who,  if  not  Hebrews 
in  faith,  are  at  least  of  Jewish  parentage,  are  illustrations 
of  that  wise  policy  which  broke  down  the  barriers  of 
disability  which  had  so  long  hindered  the  children  of 
Israel  from  a  fair  participation  in  administering  the 
affairs  of  State.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  spirit  of 
intolerance  is  not  yet  quite  extinct,  however  damaged 
and  disabled  by  its  contact  with  the  liberalism  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  for  the  air  is  rife  with  rumors  of 
Jewish  persecutions  in  certain  parts  of  the  continent  of 
Europe,  which,  to  say  the  least,  are  greatly  antagonistic 
of  the  enlightenment  of  the  age.  Galicia  in  Poland, 


24 


Bessarabia  in  Russia,  and  Roumania,  are  yet  pursuing 
the  policy  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  Germany  is  by  no 
means  tolerant;  and  the  renewal  of  these  mediaeval  pre¬ 
judices  has  assumed  such  enormous  proportions  that 
the  Jews  have  been  compelled  to  appeal  to  the  Govern¬ 
ments  of  Burope  for  protection,  and  even  the  United 
States  has  ably  seconded  these  efforts,  and  one  of  our 
citizens — Hon.  B.  P>.  Peixotto — ably  represented  us  at 
Bucharest,  and  whose  efforts  contributed  to  ameliorate 
the  condition  of  affairs  leading  to  the  Berlin  treaty,  but 
only  for  a  short  time.  Why  do  the  imbecile  rulers  of 
Burope  not  study  Heine,  who  says: 

“Judea  ever  appeared  to  me  as  a  piece  of  the  Occi¬ 
dent  lost  in  the  Orient.  Israel  sat  pious  under  her  fig- 
trees,  sang  the  praise  of  their  unseen  God,  and  did 
works  of  virtue  and  justice,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  the  temples  of  Babel,  Nineveh,  Sidon,  and  Tyre 
they  performed  orgies  of  a  revolting  character.  When 
we  consider  their  surroundings,  we  cannot  sufficiently 
admire  the  greatness  of  Israel. 

“The  Greeks  were  only  beautiful  youths,  but  the 
Jews  were  always  men — powerful,  uncringing  men — 
not  only  long  ago,  but  to-day,  in  spite  of  eighteen  hun¬ 
dred  years  of  persecution. 

“  Yes,  the  State  may  rear  high  its  head,  the  heart  be 
healthy  and  hopeful,  but  it  will  feel  the  pain  of  the  toe 
when  afflicted,  and  the  circumscribing  of  the  Jews  is 
such  an  affliction  from  which  the  feet  of  nations  suffer.” 

To  show  how  great  is  the  influence  of  the  Jews  on 
positive  religion,  how  necessary  they  are  to  the  civil¬ 
ization  of  the  age,  hear  Heine  again  (all  this,  too,  after 
baptism):  “The  conflict  between  positive  religion  and 
science  is  growing  daily.  The  Jews  are,  as  the  poet 
has  said,  ‘  the  Swiss  Guard  of  Deity,  ’  and  instead  of 
persecuting  them  they  ought  to  be  fostered,  for  they  at 
least  represent  a  history  and  believe  in  a  spiritual  power. 
Beware  of  introducing  baptism  among  the  Jews;  that  is 


25 


useless  water,  and  dries  easy.  Emancipate  them.” 
The  terrible  influence  of  prejudice,  how  beautifully  has 
Boerne  defined  it.  Boerne  says: 

“It  is  like  a  wonder;  a  thousand  times  I  have  expe¬ 
rienced  it,  and  yet  it  remains  ever  new.  The  one  upbraids 
me  for  having  been  a  Jew,  the  other  forgives  me,  the  third 
even  praises  me,  but  all  think  of  it.  They  are  charmed 
within  this  magic  Jewish  circle,  and  none  can  escape,  and 
I  know  full  well  where  the  spell  comes  from.  .  The  poor 
Germans,  living  in  the  basements,  seven  stories  of  aris¬ 
tocracy  living  over  them,  it  gratifies  them  to  know  a  more 
degraded  people — those  who  live  in  the  cellar.  No, 
that  I  was  born  a  Jew  has  never  caused  me  pain.  Yes, 
because  I  was  born  a  servant,  I  love  liberty  more  than 
you.  Yes,  because  I  learned  slavery,  I  appreciate  and 
value  liberty  more  than  you.  Yes,  because  I  was  born 
to  no  country,  I  seek  one  more  intensely  than  you,  and 
because  my  birthplace  was  no  larger  than  the  Ghetto, 
and  foreign  country  commenced  outside  of  the  Jewish 
postern  gate,  is  the  reason  that  no  city,  no  province,  or 
State  is  large  enough  but  united  Germany  free.  Alone 
in  my  ambition,  I  beg  of  you  do  not  despise  my  Jew; 
if  you  were  like  them,  you  would  be  better;  if  there  was 
as  many  of  them  as  of  you,  they  would  be  better.  You 
are  thirty  millions  of  Germans,  and  only  count  thirty 
in  the  world  (happily  changed  by  the  great  events  since 
1866  and  1871);  give  us  thirty  millions  of  Jews,  and  the 
world  counts  for  naught. 

u  You  have  taken  the  air  from  the  Jews,  but  that  has 
preserved  them  from  mildew.  You  have  sown  into  their 
hearts  the  salt  of  hate,  but  that  has  kept  them  fresh. 
You  have  imprisoned  them  the  whole  long  winter  into 
cellar  vaults,  stopping  every  crevice,  while  you,  ex¬ 
posed  to  the  frost,  nearly  froze.  When  spring  comes, 
we  will  see  who  blooms  first,  the  Jew  or  Christian.” 

In  no  country,  England  not  excepted,  is  Shakespeare 
more  admired  than  in  Germany.  Hence  the  following 
criticisms  on  Shylock  by  Robert  Benedix,  the  great 
author,  are  not  out  of  place,  and  I  reproduce  this,  as 
only  last  week  Shylock  was  portrayed  in  this  city,  not 


26 


in  the  spirit  of  education,  but  to  foster  prejudice.  He 
says: 

“  Cet  us  look  at  this  Shylock  closer.  Antonio  calls 
him  an  usurer;  the  proof  he  fails  in.  Shylock  takes 
high  interest;  so  did  all  the  merchants  of  Venice.  Shy¬ 
lock  trades  in  monev;  to-dav  we  call  him  a  banker. 
Why  does  he  trade  in  money?  Because  it  is  the  only  one 
permitted.  He  does  not  pursue  a  trade — no  agricultural 
pursuits,  no  official  station — only  trade.  If  the  Jews — 
under  centuries  of  restriction,  ostracised  from  social 
life — did  cling  to  money  and  its  uses,  whose  fault?  No 
one  can  say  anything  dishonorable  of  Shylock.  He  is 
stingy;  in  no  law-book  of  the  world  is  that  denominated 
as  a  crime.  What  is  against  this  man  ?  Simply  nothing 
more  than  that  he  is  a  Jew.  But  for  the  poet,  who,  en¬ 
throned  on  Olympian  heights,  there  must  only  exist  the 
man ,  not  the  Jew.  Shylock  is  revengeful.  Well,  who 
has  instigated  it  ?  Only  you  who  have  despised  him. 
After  persecuting,  deriding  him,  they  crown  their  in¬ 
famy  by  asking  him  to  turn  Christian.  That  is  the 
summit  of  baseness.  What  is  left  to  the  poor  Jew,  whom 
you  have  trodden  under  foot,  when  you  rob  him  of  his 
faith  ?  It  is  the  bond  that  binds  him  to  his  fathers,  to 
his  home.  It  has  been  his  solace  in  thousandfold  per¬ 
secutions.  To  this  faith  Israel  clings  with  devoted 
love,  and  from  this  faith  Shylock  shall  turn  to  become 
a  Christian  !  No  wonder  he  turns  with  abhorrence  from 
those  who  torture  him  so  cruelly.  Christians  they  may 
be.  Men  they  are  not.  And  is  there  no  feeling  for  a 
father  ?  To  exalt  a  daughter  who  absconds  and  robs 
him  whom  she  should  honor?  Is  that  Jewish  or  Chris¬ 
tian  ?  The  grand  speech,  ‘  Has  not  a  Jew  eyes,’  &c., 
is  the  martyr  exclamation  of  a  people  who  for  centuries 
had  been  the  victims  of  debauched,  bigotted  priests. 

“  It  is  hard  to  free  Shakespeare  from  the  prejudice  of 
his  age.  He  has  morally  sinned;  artistically  erred.  Con¬ 
trast  Cessing;  and  he  wrote  in  an  age  of  equal  intoler¬ 
ance.  His  “  Nathan  the  Wise  ”  is  an  embodiment  of 
morality  and  sublime  virtues;  his  figures  are  apostles 
of  true  humanity.  Nathan  is  an  Evangelist  of  true 
worth;  and  Cessing,  taking  for  his  hero  a  Jew,  made 
thereby  the  u  amende  honorable”  in  the  name  of  hu¬ 
manity.  5  ’ 


27 


And  now  for  the  truth  of  this  Shylock  play.  Re¬ 
verse  the  principal  persons,  Shylock  and  Antonio, 
and  you  will  have  the  truth  of  the  story.  The  plot  is 
taken  from  the  Italian— the  Jew  borrowed  and  the 
Christian  loaned.  But  the  truckling  spirit  of  the  age 
falsified  fact  to  gratify  the  prejudices  of  the  hour.  Les¬ 
sing,  in  his  immortal  “Nathan  the  Wise,”  crowned 
himself  and  earned  eternal  gratitude.  How  his  great 
heart  speaks  when  the  Dervise  says  to  Nathan  : 

“What,  is  it  not  foolery  to  oppress  one’s  brother- 
men  by  hundreds,  thousands,  to  waste  their  strength, 
to  plunder,  torture,  kill  them,  yet  wish  to  appear  the 
saviour  of  a  few?  Is  it  not  foolery  to  try  to  ape  the 
mercy  of  the  highest,  who,  impartial  on  evil  and  good, 
on  field  and  waste,  spreadeth  himself  abroad  in  sun 
and  rain,  yet  not  to  have  the  overflowing  hand  of  the 
Almighty?” 

What  a  rebuke  to  the  money-making  Jew  when  the 
Templar  said  to  Nathan:  “To  me  the  richest  Jew  was 
never  the  best.”  How  grandly  eloquent  the  words  of 
Nathan  to  the  Templar:  “We  neither  chose  our  people. 
Are  we  our  people?  What  does  our  people  mean?  Is 
Jew  or  Christian  rather  Jew  or  Christian  than  man? 
How  the  baleful  fires  of  hate  and  bigotry  glow  in  the 
language  of  the  Patriarch  when  the  Templar  asks:  “But 
if  the  child  in  misery  had  died  unless  the  Jew  had  had 
compassion  on  it?”  It  matters  not;  “  the  Jew  goes  to 
the  stake.  Better  the  child  had  died  in  misery  heie 
than  thus  be  saved  for  everlasting  ruin.  Besides,  why 
need  the  Jew  anticipate  God’s  providence?  Without 
him  God  can  save,  if  save  he  will.” 

Or,  in  other  words,  the  Jew  is  incapable  of  a  worthy 
act,  and  must  at  all  hazards  be  condemned;  and  that 
reminds  me  of  an  anecdote  in  point: 

In  Wurtemburg,  while  a  Jew  was  passing  a  house,  a 
stone  thrown  by  some  one  came  flying  towards  him;  he 


28 


dodged  it,  and  it  went  crashing  through  the  window. 
The  proprietor  sued  the  man  that  threw  the  stone,  and 
the  wise  justice  decided  that,  had  the  Jew  not  dodged, 
no  damage  would  have  resulted;  hence  the  Jew  must 
pay.  This  seems  laughable,  but  is  the  type  instance  of 
thousand  similar  decisions,  but  often  resulting  more 
disastrously  to  the  Jewish  people. 

But  hear  Lessing  again.  How  every  barrier  falls  in 
the  following  utterances — lay  brother  to  Nathan:  “You 
are  a  Christian;  never  was  a  better.”  And  Nathan’s 
answer  touches  the  key-note  of  the  chord  of  humanity 
when  he  says:  “What  makes  of  me  a  Christian  in  your 
eyes  makes  you  in  mine  a  Jew — happy  for  both.”  Nar¬ 
rowness  comes  from  ignorance.  To  purify  men  is  to 
educate  them.  How  can  they  be  educated  without 
dealing  with  each  according  to  his  own  nature?  Edu¬ 
cation  is  the  religion  of  the  human  race ,  and  the  less 
men’s  motives  are  aspersed,  the  more  charitable  we  are 
towards  each  other;  and  the  fewer  laws  that  are  enacted, 
the  nearer  we  approach  that  standard  of  religion  which 
is  cosmopolitan. 

No  matter  how  much  the  Jew  may  differ  from  your 
ideas,  do  not  forget  that  his  home-life  is  a  living  exam¬ 
ple  of  his  influence  and  progress.  Healthy  and  powerful, 
pure  and  fresh,  has  ever  gushed  forth  that  fountain  of  Ju¬ 
daism  the  pure  family  life  which  has  kept  Israel  fresh  and 
strong.  It  was  a  pillar  of  strength  in  days  of  danger,  it 
will  be  so  in  days  of  prosperity,  for,  as  Balaam  said,  so 
we  can  ever  say:  “  How  beautiful  are  thy  tents,  Jacob, 
thy  habitations,  Israel.”  Elegantly  has  Gutzkow  ex¬ 
pressed  it  when  he  lets  Silva  say  to  Uriel  Acosta:  “Deep- 
rooted  in  our  people  is  the  magic  of  family  and  home;  in 
exile,  when  pursued,  there  was  one  solace  in  our  misery, 
that  a  father,  a  mother  loved  us,  that  a  brother  called  us, 
and  that  no  term  of  years  ever  changes  our  affections.” 


29 


In  short,  the  words  “old  man  and  old  woman”  are 

never  heard  in  a  Jewish  home. 

As  I  said  in  the  commencement  of  my  address,  the 
legend  of  the  Wandering  Jew,  or,  as  the  Germans  have 
it,  “The  Everlasting  Jew,”  has  added  considerable  fuel 
to  the  fires  of  fanaticism.  Robert  Hammerling  says  : 
“It  is  true  what  has  been  said,  that  Ahasver  is  not 
in  my  poem,  as  in  the  legend,  ‘The  Wfindering  Jew, 
but  the  eternal  man.  But  I  think  with  the  Wander¬ 
ing  Jew,  the  drama  can  do  but  little,  but  the  immortal 
man  it  can  use  to  a  wise  purpose.  It  is  not  altogether 
unlikely  or  impossible  that  the  Jew,  who  belongs  to  a 
race  of  great  longevity,  will  survive  all  other  races.  In 
other  words,  in  the  mutation  of  change  the  perma¬ 
nent.  Among  the  mortals— the  immortal.  ”  It  is  strange 
that  so  absurd  a  story  should  have  found  any  credence, 
but  nothing  is  too  unnatural  for  bigots.  Intelligently 
construed,  the  legend  is  the  highest  tribute  to  the  Jewish 
race  ;  for  he  is  eternal,  everlasting— history  proves  it, 
and  daily  experience  confirms  it.  He  is  a  wanderer  in 
every  country,  the  selfsame  oriental  features  as  of  old, 
the  same  habits,  faith,  and  aspirations;  nothing  has 
shaken  his  fortitude,  his  firmness,  his  sublime  faith  in 
a  God  of  love  and  peace.  He  is  truly  “The  Everlast¬ 
ing  Jew,”  but  not  as  a  punishment  for  inhospitality, 
but  as  a  reward  for  that  unshaken  fidelity  which  has 
characterized  him.  Beautifully,  and  no  less  truthfully, 
has  Dohme,  the  great  German  writer,  depicted  the  Jew. 
There  was  a  time,  and  only  recent,  when  Jews  could 
not  sit  in  Parliament ;  the  agitation  was  intense,  and  at 
one  time  convulsed  the  whole  kingdom.  The  best  talent 
of  the  English  nation  was  enlisted  for  and  against.  In 
the  Edinburgh  Review  appeared  a  masterly  article, 
which  was  so  thorough  that  it  exhausted  the  subject. 
It  was  from  the  pen  of  the  gifted  Eord  Macauley.  I 
extract  a  few  passages  to  show  the  general  scope,  and 


30 


which  are  applicable  to  this  country,  considering  that 
we  hear  constantly  “Christian  Government,”  and  read 
of  the  attempts  to  Christianize  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  Says  Macauley  : 

“We  hear  of  essentially  Protestant  Governments, 
and  essentially  Christian  Governments — words  which 
mean  just  as  much  as  essentially  Protestant  cookery, 
or  essentially  Christian  horsemanship.  Governments 
exist  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  peace  ;  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  compelling  us  to  settle  our  disputes  by  arbitra¬ 
tion,  instead  of  settling  them  by  blows  ;  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  our  wants  by  industry,  instead  of  supply¬ 
ing  them  by  rapine. 

“If  there  is  any  class  of  people  who  are  not  interested, 
or  who  do  not  think  themselves  interested,  in  the  se¬ 
curity  of  property  and  the  maintenance  of  order,  that 
class  ought  to  have  no  share  of  the  powers  which 
exist  for  the  purpose  of  securing  property  and  maintain¬ 
ing  order.  But  why  a  man  should  be  less  fit  to  exer¬ 
cise  those  powers  because  he  wears  a  beard,  because 
he  does  not  eat  ham,  we  cannot  concede.  The  points 
of  difference  between  Christianity  and  Judaism  have 
very  much  to  do  with  a  man’s  fitness  to  be  a  Bishop 
or  Rabbi.  But  they  have  no  more  to  do  with  his  fit¬ 
ness  to  be  a  magistrate  or  legislator  or  a  minister  of 
finance  than  with  his  fitness  to  be  a  cobbler.  Nobody 
has  ever  thought  of  compelling  cobblers  to  make  any 
declaration  of  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian  ;  any  man 
would  rather  have  his  shoes  mended  by  a  heretical 
cobbler  than  by  a  person  who  had  subscribed  all  the 
thirty-nine  articles,  but  had  never  handled  an  awl. 
Men  act  thus  not  because  they  are  indifferent  to  reli¬ 
gion,  but  because  they  do  not  see  what  religion  has  to 
do  with  the  mending  of  their  shoes.  What  power  in 
civilized  society  is  so  great  as  that  of  the  creditor  over 
the  debtor?  If  we  take  this  from  the  Jew,  we  take 
away  from  him  the  security  of  his  property.  If  we 
leave  it  to  him,  we  leave  to  him  a  power  more  despotic 
by  far  than  that  of  the  king  and  all  his  cabinet.  *  *  * 

“It  would  be  impious  to  let  a  Jew  sit  in  Parliament, 
but  a  Jew  may  make  money,  and  money  may  make 
Members  of  Parliament.  Sarum  may  be  the  property 


3T 


of  a  Hebrew.  Ail  elector  will  take  ten  pounds  from 
Shylock  rather  than  nine  pounds  nineteen  shillings 
and  seven  pence  three  farthings  from  Antonio.  To 
this  objection  is  made.  That  a  Jew  should  possess 
the  substance  of  legislative  power ;  that  he  should  com¬ 
mand  eight  votes  on  every  division  as  if  he  was  the  great 
Duke  of  New  Castle— is  exactly  as  it  should  be.  But 
that  he  should  pass  the  bar,  and  sit  down  on  those 
mysterious  cushions  of  green  leather ;  that  he  should 
say  ‘hear’  and  ‘order,’  and  talk  about  being  on  his 
legs  and  being  for  once  free  to  say  ‘this  and  to  say  that,’ 
would  be  a  profanation  sufficient  to  bring  ruin  on  the 
country.  That  a  Jew  should  be  a  privy-councillor  to 
a  Christian  king,  would  be  an  eternal  disgrace  to  the 
nation.  But  the  Jew  may  govern  the  money  market, 
and  the  money  market  may  govern  the  world.  The 
minister  may  be  in  doubt  as  to  his  scheme  of  finance 
till  he  has  been  closeted  with  the  Jew.  A  congress  of 
sovereigns  may  be  forced  to  summon  the  Jew  to  their 
assistance.  The  scrawl  of  the  Jew  on  the  back  of  a 
piece  of  paper  may  be  worth  more  than  the  royal  word 
of  three  kings  or  the  national  faith  of  three  new  Ameri¬ 
can  republics.  But  that  he  should  put  Right  Honor¬ 
able  before  his  name  would  be  the  most  frightful  of 
national  calamities.  If  it  is  our  duty  as  Christians  to 
exclude  the  Jews  from  political  powei,  it  must  be  our 
duty  to  treat  them  as  our  ancestors  treated  them  to 
murder  them,  and  banish  them,  and  rob  them. 

Where  wealth  is,  there  power  must  inevitably  be.” 

Beautifully  expressed  are  his  reasons  for  the  want  of 
patriotism  of  the  Jew  in  countries  where  oppressed,  of 
the  senseless  prejudice  in  countries  where  free : 

“If  the  Jews  have  not  felt  towards  England  like  chil¬ 
dren,  it  is  because  she  has  treated  them  like  a  stepmother. 
There  is  no  feeling  which  more  certainly  develops 
itself  in  the  minds  of  men  living  under  tolerable  good 
government  than  the  feeling  of  patriotism.  Since  the 
beginning  of  the  world  there  never  was  any  nation,  or 
any  large&  portion  of  any  nation  not  cruelly  oppressed, 
which  was  wholly  destitute  of  that  feeling.  To  make  it, 
therefore,  ground  of  accusation  against  a  class  of  men 


32 


that  they  are  not  patriotic,  is  the  most  vulgar  legerde¬ 
main  of  sophistry.  It  is  logic  which  the  wolf  employs 
against  the  lamb.  It  is  to  accuse  the  mouth  of  the 
stream  of  poisoning  the  source.  * 

“But  not  only  in  monarchical  England,  but  in  the 
republican  United  States,  long  after  equality  was  won 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  did  several  of  the  States 
deny  it  to  the  Jew  (and  it  was  only  a  few  years  ago  that 
even  Switzerland  accorded  full  equality,  after  boasting 
of  its  six  hundred  years  of  liberty);  and  what  was  then 
denied  to  the  Jew  is  now  attempted  by  a  large  number 
of  respectable  American  citizens;  that  is,  to  abridge 
social,  natural,  and  personal  rights.  Fanaticism  is 
never  at  peace,  and  the  greatest  danger  of  the  American 
Republic  lies  in  the  fostering  of  ‘isms.’  ” 

The  prejudice  that  deals  in  invective  without  reason, 
that  traduces  without  cause,  has  never  been  so  pro¬ 
nounced  as  exhibited  by  Mr.  Moody  in  Philadelphia 
recently. 

Enlisted  in  the  cause  of  evangelism,  claiming  to  be  a 
spiritual  guide,  he  wantonly  attacks  his  Jewish  fellow- 
citizens  in  a  set  harangue  of  over  an  hour,  thinking, 
no  doubt,  as  thousands  of  others  have  done  before  him, 
that  it  is  manly  to  attack  a  physical  minority  ;  that  it 
is  popular  to  deride  the  Jew,  and  that  the  victim  will 
bow  his  head  in  submission,  thankful  for  life. 

And  there  is  where  men  like  Mr.  Moody  commit  a 
folly  ;  for  the  victim  does  not  bow  his  head  ;  he  asserts 
his  manhood,  his  mental  majority,  and  tells  him  and 
others  that  the  day  has  gone  by  when  it  was  fashionable 
to  abuse  any  class  of  men  differing  in  religious  senti¬ 
ment;  and  especially  is  this  so  in  this  country. 

The  folly  consists  not  only  in  the  utterance,  but  also 
in  those  good  Christian  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  sat 
at  the  feet  of  the  evangelist,  and  failed  to  rebuke  him. 

But  it  requires  heroism  of  a  superior  mould  for  men 
to  rise  superior  to  the  dictation  of  their  spiritual  guides  ; 


33 


and  in  that  very  essential  the  Jew  of  modern  days 
stands  superior  ;  he  knows  no  priest ;  their  religious 
teachers  aim  to  instruct  the  reason,  not  to  fetter  it ;  seek 
to  elevate  the  moral  character  of  their  people,  not  to 
circumscribe  it.  In  short,  the  Jew  believes  in  the  uni¬ 
versality  of  manhood. 

I  also  quote  from  the  speehes  of  Brackenridge  and 
Tyson,  members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature  in  1818. 
Mr.  Kennedy,  of  Washington  county,  had  introduced 
session  after  session  his  famous  Jew  Bill,  and  it  took 
seven  years  of  debate  before  Maryland  adopted  a  law 
giving  the  Jew  equal  rights.  The  sentiments  hold 
good  to-day.  The  same  prejudice  and  ignorance  exist, 
and  the  demagogue  has  not  changed  his  skin.  It  was 
a  question  of  politics  in  1818;  it  is  a  question  of  fanat¬ 
icism  and  church  supremacy  in  1888. 

Says  Brackenridge: 

“Every  American  who  aspires  to  the  character  of 
liberality,  as  well  as  to  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  spirit 
of  our  institutions,  must  subscribe  to  this  proposition, 
as  the  test  of  the  progress  of  his  attainments,  that 
religion  is  a  matter  between  man  and  his  God,  that  the 
temporal  arm  should  be  interposed  to  direct  the  actions 
of  men,  and  not  their  thoughts.  *  *  *  I  would 

contend,  in  behalf  of  the  citizen,  that  in  requiring  him 
to  subscribe  to  a  religious  test  for  any  purpose,  his  just 
constitutional  rights  are  infringed  and  violated.  *  *  * 
A  constitutional  right  is  violated  whenever  the  citizen 
is  made  to  feel  the  consequence  of  his  opinions,  either 
by  direct  bodily  infliction  or  by  disqualifications.  *  *  * 

“If  we  look  abroad,  and  even  glance  around  on  our 
own  country,  we  shall  find  that  the  practice  of  perse¬ 
cution  and  the  spirit  of  intolerance  are  not  the  insepa¬ 
rable  attendants  on  Catholicism;  nor  does  history  prove 
that  American  Protestants  cannot  be  intolerant.  *  *  * 
I  proclaim  it  persecution  when  any  one  forcibly  inter¬ 
rupts  the  free  enjoyment  of  my  opinion  in  matters  of 
religion,  politics,  or  science.  *  * 

“  I  hold  my  right  unquestionable  to  differ  from  any 


34 


other  man.  *  *  *  I  do  firmly  believe  that  it  is  an 

insult  to  the  Christian  religion  to  suppose  that  it  needs 
the  temporal  arm  for  its  support.  But  I  am  told  this  is 
a  Christian  land.  No,  sir;  the  soil  we  inhabit  yields 
its  fruit  to  the  just  and  unjust;  the  sun,  which  gives  us 
life,  sheds  his  glorious  beams  impartially  on  all.  But 
the  great  majority  of  the  dwellers  of  this  land  are  Chris¬ 
tians;  therefore  is  it  a  Christian  land?  For  the  same 
reason  it  might  be  a  Catholic,  Episcopal,  or  Presbyterian 
land.  Our  political  compacts  are  not  entered  into  as 
brethren  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  as  men,  as  members 
of  a  civilized  society.  In  looking  back  to  pur  struggle 
for  independence,  I  find  that  we  engaged  in  that  con¬ 
flict  for  the  rights  of  man,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of 
enforcing  or  defending  any  particular  religious  creed. 

*  *  *  All  persecution  for  the  sake  of  opinion  is 

tyranny.  ”  *  *  * 

Says  Mr.  Tyson  (and  that  speech  is  truth  to-day  as  to 
the  stupid  bigotry  with  which  the  Jew  is  pursued 
socially  and  denounced  publicly): 

u  Why  has  the  triumph  of  this  cause  been  so  long 
delayed  ?  Because  of  the  ignorance  of  some  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  the  prejudice  of  others,  the  bigotry  of  one  portion, 
and  the  honest  but  mistaken  zeal  of  another — an  igno¬ 
rance,  prejudice,  bigotry,  and  zeal  fostered  by  political 
demagogues,  who,  though  in  heart  and  soul  they  were 
neither  Christian,  Jew,  nor  Turk,  professed  to  be  the 
humble  supporters  of  the  religion  of  Jesus. 

u  The  Jew  has  some  of  your  advantages,  and  yet  he 
does  no  worse  than  you.  Maybe  he  does  better,  for  the 
faithful  Jew  practices  Christianity  without  professing  it. 
You  profess  it  without  practicing  it.  *  *  *  Their  de¬ 
scendants,  from  generation  to  generation,  for  twenty  cen¬ 
turies,  have  been  the  victims  of  a  persecution  unparal¬ 
leled  in  the  history  of  any  other  people.  In  every  period 
of  the  world’s  history,  in  every  nation  under  Heaven, 
by  every  sect,  they  have  been  imprisoned,  tortured,  and 
massacred,  sewed  up  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and 
thrown  to  the  dogs  in  Asia;  chained  to  the  galling  car 
for  life  in  Africa;  burned  to  death  in  Spain;  flayed  alive 
in  Italy ;  fleeced  and  sentenced  to  banishment  from  time 


35 


to  time  in  England  ;  plunged  into  the  catacombs  in 
France;  knouted  in  Russia,  or  driven  to  perish  in  the 
wilds  of  Siberia.  Is  not  this  enough  ?  ”  *  *  * 

And  Mr.  Tyson  might  have  truthfully  said,  and  all  this 
was  done  by  professing  Christians,  chanting  the  hymns 
and  songs  of  Judea’s  poets  and  singers,  and  under  the 
inspiration  of  their  Saviour,  who  was  himself  a  Jew. 
It  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  every  word  coined  in  the 
crucible  of  pure  aesthetic  morality  is  adding  so  much 
to  the  world’s  progress,  and  the  Jews  have  shown  intel¬ 
lectual  capacity,  genius  for  the  higher  walks  of  culture, 
love  of  and  for  music,  song,  science,  invention,  art, 
philosophy,  poetry,  journalism,  commerce,  banking, 
and  even  in  the  art  of  war.  To  a  certain  extent  I  have 
shown  this.  I  will  now  do  so  more  fully.  Republics 
rest  on  virtue  ;  the  sobriety  of  the  citizen,  the  moral 
poise  of  the  father,  husband,  brother,  son,  mother,  wife, 
daughter,  and  sister  are  the  great  safeguards  of  a  free 
nation.  Where  do  yon  find  these  to  a  greater  extent 
than  among  the  Jews?  Has  their  home-life  not  been 

immortalized  in  song  and  story  ? 

The  thrift  of  a  people  is  the  best  preventive  of  vice 
and  immorality  ;  the  patient  industry,  the  sober,  daily 
life,  form  the  bulwark  of  a  nation’s  greatness  and  per¬ 
petuity.  Who  possess  these  to  a  greater  degree  than 

the  Jews? 

Music  and  song  are  the  twin  sisters  who  have  made 
the  world  purer  and  better,  assuaged  sorrow,  added  to 
onr  stock  of  enjoyment,  are  a  solace  to  the  enslaved,  a 
recreation  to  the  refined.  All  the  opera-houses  of  the 
world  would  be  empty  were  it  not  for  the  liberal  pat¬ 
ronage  of  the  Jew,  and  that  is  the  reason  Friday  night 
is  always  selected  for  benefits.  But,  aside  from  this, 
they  have  given  to  the  world  composers,  singers,  and 
painters,  classed  among  the  first— Mendelssohn,  Mey¬ 
erbeer,  Halevy,  Mosheles,  Offenbach,  Braham,  Pattis, 


36 

Strakosch,  Wienawski,  Rubenstein,  Joachim,  Ernst, 
Rettelheim,  Magnus,  Constant,  Mayer,  Josef  Hoffman, 
Peixotto,  Heilbrons,  Wolfsolni,  Adelaide  Phillips,  Toby, 
Rosenthal,  and  Mosler.  The  stage,  as  is  now  generally 
conceded  by  liberal  minds,  is  a  school  doing  as  much  to 
elevate  the  character  of  man  as  the  Church.  What 
actors  greater  than  Talma,  Rachel,  Davison,  Bandman, 
Eechter,  Bernhart? 

Statesmen,  lawyers,  politicians  are  the  triumvirate  of 
a  State’s  active  life;  the  one  forms,  the  other  guides, 
and  the  last  interprets,  public  opinion.  No  country  can 
prosper  without  them;  they  are  the  controlling  influence 
of  a  nation’s  greatness.  And  in  this  category  we  count 
the  stars  of  the  first  order— Fould,  Cremieux,  Disraeli, 
Montefiore,  Jules  Simon,  Goldsmith,  Jessel,  Lasker, 
Euzzato,  Jacoby,  Benjamin,  Phillips,  Noah,  Dr.  Fried- 
enthal,  Simpson,  Meissel,  Riesser,  Artom,  and  Easalle. 

Authors  delight  and  instruct  mankind;  and  when  they 
are  imbued  with  liberal  ideas,  they  add  vastly  to  the 
happiness  and  welfare  of  humanity.  The  Jews  are  not 
meanly  represented  among  the  modern.  Auerbach,  Mo- 
senthal,  Lemon,  Mendelssohn,  Heine,  Borne,  Disraeli, 
LeFarjeon,  Leeser,  Aguiar,  Spinoza,  Geiger,  Emma 
Lazarus,  Graetz,  Raphael,  Riesser,  Krieznach,  Phillips, 
Saphir,  Herzfield,  Heilprin,  Rev.  Dr.  I.  M.  Wise,  Rev. 
Dr.  B.  Szold,  Munk;  Kalish,  the  humorist;  Abarbanel, 
Goldsmith,  Emanuel  Deutsch ;  Kuh,  the  mathema¬ 
tician  ;  Wietzenhausen,  Stern,  Beer ;  Sloninski,  the 
physiologist;  Oppert;  Valentine,  anatomist;  Hirshfield; 
Bien,  the  lithographer;  Berliner,  the  inventor.  Com¬ 
merce  and  finance  are  the  two  great  motive  powers  of 
the  world’s  prosperity.  Without  them,  the  wheels  of 
State  would  stand  still;  without  them,  we  would  sink 
back  into  barbarism.  They  keep  us  active  and  ener¬ 
getic,  and  add  not  only  to  a  nation’s  strength  and  great¬ 
ness,  but  also  give  scope  to  the  fertile  brain  of  the 


37 


individual.  And  well  has  it  been  said  that  this  power 
at  least  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Jew;  for  while  it 
has  been  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  their  oppression, 
it  at  the  same  time  has  been  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the. 
best,  weapons  of  defense.  The  Jews  first  made  use  of 
letters  of  credit.  We  all  know  that  the  first  bankers  of 
the  world — Rothschilds — are  Jews;  we  know  they  con¬ 
trol  not  only  the  money  market,  but  also  the  political 
destiny  of  the  European  world;  and  one  thing  can  be 
truthfully  said — they  never  mix  their  religion  with 
other  people’s  money.  Even  our  loans  were  taken 
principally  by  Jews;  but  mercantile  enterprises  owe  a 
vast  debt  to  the  Jew.  You  need  but  look  at  the  streets 
of  the  principal  cities  of  the  world  on  Jewish  holidays, 
and  you  will  at  once  see  that  trade  is  in  mourning;  the 
busy  hum  is  hushed;  everything  is  languid;  the  active 
brain,  the  quick,  nervous  decision,  the  daring,  yet  cau¬ 
tious,  speculator  is  absent.  Took  at  Spain  and  Ireland, 
and  then  at  England,  France,  Germany,  and  the  United 
States;  and  yet  this  very  activity  is  made  a  weapon  of 
attack. 

The  Jewish  merchant  and  banker  is  an  honor  to  hu¬ 
manity;  and  while  here  and  there  are  found  a  few  who 
are  not  what  they  ought  to  be,  yet  on  the  whole  they 
are  high-toned,  enterprising,  intelligent,  and  eminently 
trustworthy. 

The  temperate  character  of  the  Jew  in  every  relation 
of  life  is  beyond  compare.  For  them  no  excise  or  restrict¬ 
ive  laws  are  necessary.  A  drunken,  intemperate  Jew  is 
almost  impossible;  they  have  too  much  love  and  respect, 
not  only  for  their  home-circle,  but  also  for  their  name 
and  character.  Their  forefathers  looked  upon  dissipa¬ 
tion  with  abhorrence;  the  sons  have  not  degenerated; 
and  with  them  it  is  training ,  not  restraining .  The  sani¬ 
tary  and  hygienic  laws  of  the  Jews  are  to-day  the  best 
ever  framed,  and  the  regulations  for  the  health  of  the 


38 

soldiers  in  camp  and  on  the  march  have  their  origin  in 
the  laws  of  Moses.  The  statistics  of  every  city  show  that 
in  great  epidemics  the  ratio  of  death  between  the  Jew  now 
and  others  is  as  two  to  eight.  Jewish-killed  meats  are 
sought  after  and  purchased  by  many  Christians,  as  they 
are  conducive  to  health.  And  does  not  good  digestion 
form  an  important  element  in  a  nation’s  welfare?  Need 
I  speak  of  their  charity?  That  has  become  proverbial. 
Their  poor  are  not  outdoors,  their  orphans  not  outcasts, 
their  widows  not  dissolute,  their  old  men  not  scoffed  at. 
Among  themselves  they  differ  as  to  forms,  but  in  char¬ 
ity  and  benevolence  they  are  united.  No  one  is  turned 
away.  With  them  to  give  is  to  serve  the  Lord.  I  have 
often  been  asked  why  are  you  Jews  so  restrictive  in  not 
intermarrying  with  Christians?  I  answer,  it  would  pro¬ 
duce  unhappiness,  misery,  if  not  crime.  There  can  be 
no  perfect  home  unless  both  parents  have  the  same  faith ; 
the  offspring  must  see  the  fruits  of  peace,  not  of  strife, 
there  must  be  a  unity  of  thought,  not  a  division  of  the 
Heaven  aspired  to.  Imagine  a  home  happy  where  the 
father  goes  to  one,  the  mother  to  another,  church.  Two- 
thirds  of  our  American  divorces  owe  their  origin  to 
religious  differences  and  the  want  of  true  home,  heart 
education  and  the  power  of  the  priesthood  over  the 
women  of  this  land.  There  was  a  time  in  Berlin  and 
Vienna  when  the  whole  literary  and  artistic  world 
of  Europe  could  be  found  in  the  parlors  of  Henrietta 
Herz,  Rahel  Levin,  and  Countess  Arnim,  the  greatest 
statesmen  recreating  their  weary  brain.  Discussion  upon 
every  theme  chased  the  hours  away.  Dynasties  were 
formed  and  destroyed;  one  philosophy  created,  another 
criticised  to  death.  “  Circle  of  Virtue,”  as  they  called 
themselves,  became  the  central  power  around  which 
everything  else  had  to  revolve;  they  were  a  power  for 
good  and  evil;  and  overlooking  all  were  these  daughters 
of  Israel,  who  by  a  smile,  nod,  or  wink  controlled  em- 


59 


pires.  To  their  own  race  they  were  aliens;  they  were 
not  proud  of  their  birth;  it  was  an  era  of  intolerance. 
Fashion  opened  its  doors  only  to  the  hypocrite.  Science 
and  art  championed  the  baptizer  and  ostracised  the 
faithful,  the  ambitious,  intellectual  Jews,  like  Heine, 
Boerne,  Disraeli,  and  others  had  to  embrace  sectarian¬ 
ism,  so  as  to  walk  the  avenues  of  literature  as  equals; 
and  yet,  as  I  have  shown,  in  all  their  writings  and  acts 
they  were  like  the  painted  leopard — the  spots  could  not 
be  washed  away. 

How  grand,  noble,  and  sublime  in  comparison  stand 
the  gifted  Grace  Aquilar  and  Hmrna  Lazarus.  Their 
works  have  not  only  championed  Judaism  in  its  better 
style,  but  they  also  command,  by  their  simplicity  of 
style,  the  purity  of  their  diction,  and  their  high  moral 
tone,  the  respect  and  esteem  of  mankind.  Such  women 
do  more  to  advance  the  world’s  progress,  to  instruct 
and  educate,  than  a  million  of  Raliel  Levins.  The 
one  is  eternal  in  her  works,  the  other  only  remembered 
as  a  brilliant,  fashionable  dreamer. 

The  Press  of  Europe  is  mostly  controlled  by  Jews; 
the  leading  editors  are  Jews.  The  different  universities 
of  Europe  contain  dozens  of  professors  in  every  walk 
of  science  who  are  devout  believers  in  Judaism,  and  the 
leading  newspaper  in  the  United  .-States  is  owned  by 
a  Jew. 

The  revolutionary  feeling  in  Europe  owed  its  life  and 
stimulus  to  Jews;  the  German  Government  called  every 
patriot  a  Jew;  and  the  liberal  ideas  slowly  dawning  in 
Europe  are  mainly  due  to  Jewish  brains  and  money. 
They  are  a  liberty-loving  people,  and  yet  they  cling  to 
the  country  of  their  adoption,  be  that  despotic  or  free  ; 
they  pray  for  Emperor  and  President,  believe  in  law 
and  order,  and  ever  counsel  peace.  In  answer  to  the 
charge  of  clannishness  among  the  Jews  and  their  want 
of  patriotism,  Macauley  says  : 


40 


“The  English  Jews  are,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  precisely 
what  our  Government  has  made  them.  They  are  pre¬ 
cisely  what  any  sect,  what  any  class  of  men,  treated  as 
they  have  been  treated,  would  have  been.  If  all  the 
red-haired  people  in  Europe  had  during  centuries  been 
outraged  and  oppressed,  banished  from  this  place,  im¬ 
prisoned  in  that,  deprived  of  their  money,  deprived  of 
their  teeth,  convicted  of  the  most  improbable  crimes  on 
the  feeblest  evidence,  dragged  at  horses’  tails,  hanged, 
tortured,  burned  alive ;  if,  when  manners  became 
milder,  they  had  still  been  subject  to  debasing  restric¬ 
tions  and  exposed  to  vulgar  insults,  locked  up  in  par¬ 
ticular  streets  in  some  countries,  pelted  and  ducked 
by  the  rabble  in  others,  excluded  everywhere  from 
magistracies  and  honors, — what  would  be  the  patriot¬ 
ism  of  gentlemen  with  red  hair? 

“And  if  under  such  circumstances  a  proposition  were 
made  for  admitting  red-haired  men  to  office,  how  strik¬ 
ing  a  speech  might  an  eloquent  admirer  of  our  old  institu¬ 
tion  deliver  against  so  revolutionary  a  measure?  ‘These 
men,’  he  might  say,  ‘scarcely  consider  themselves  as 
Englishmen.  They  think  a  red-haired  Frenchman  or 
a  red-haired  German  more  closely  connected  with  them 
than  a  man  with  brown  hair  born  in  their  own  par¬ 
ish.’  ”  *  *  * 

To  the  charge  of  usury  and  sharp-dealing  he  answers 
thus  : 

“A  Christian  is  commanded,  under  the  strongest 
sanctions,  to  be  just  in  all  his  dealings  ;  yet  to  how  many 
of  the  twenty-four  millions  of  professing  Christians  in 
these  islands  would  any  man  in  his  senses  lend  a  thou¬ 
sand  pounds  without  security?  A  man  who  should  act, 
for  one  day,  on  the  supposition  that  all  the  people  about 
him  were  influenced  by  the  religion  which  they  pro¬ 
fessed,  would  find  himself  ruined  before  night,  and  no 
man  ever  does  act  on  that  supposition  in  the  ordinary 
concerns  of  life — in  borrowing,  lending,  in  buying,  or 
in  selling.  (But  when  any  of  our  fellow-creatures  are  to 
be  oppressed,  the  case  is  different.  Then  we  represent 
those  motives  which  we  know  to  be  as  feeble  for  good 


41 


as  omnipotent  for  evil.  Then  we  lay  to  the  charge  of 
onr  victims  all  the  vices  and  follies  to  which  their  doc¬ 
trines,  however  remotely,  seem  to  tend.” 

But  you  will  say  that  is  all  very  true  of  the  past,  of 
Europe,  but  here  in  this  country,  where  there  are  no 
restrictions  now,  where  every  avenue  to  wealth  and 
position  is  open  to  you,  how  is  it  that  you  are  so  clan¬ 
nish?  Why  are  the  majority  merchants  and  bankers? 
How  is  it  that  you  are  so  loud  at  bathing-places — so 
fond  of  display  ? 

I  can  only  answer  that  this  country  is  yet  in  its  in¬ 
fancy  ;  that  the  most  of  the  Jews  resident  here  were 
born  in  Europe  ;  that  they  have  the  customs  and  habits 
of  home — a  home  which  was  a  prison-house.  The  sons 
and  daughters,  however,  born  here  are  in  the  highest 
and  best  sense  Americans ;  that  they  are  carving  hon¬ 
orable  names  in  every  path  of  industry,  the  arts  and 
science.  The  evidence  of  the  rising  importance  of  the 
Hebrew  race  in  all  that  regards  mental  cultivation  and 
usefulness  in  public  affairs  is  still  stronger  and  more 
widely  diffused  in  this  country,  not  only  to  the  contri¬ 
butions  of  Hebrew  scholars  who  adorn  American  litera¬ 
ture  ;  not  only  is  the  voice  of  Hebrew  statesmen  heard 
in  our  legislative  halls,  but  some  of  the  most  important 
questions  of  the  day,  affecting  the  welfare  and  prosperity 
of  the  American  nation,  have  found  their  solution  in 
the  genius  and  ingenuity  of  Hebrews.  Not  only  the 
philanthropic  Judah  Tourah,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Jesse 
Seligman,  and  Michael  Reese,  who  gave  to  all  creeds 
alike,  are  American  Jews,  but  who  can  have  forgotten 
the  large-hearted  jurist  and  statesman,  M.  M.  Noah, 
that  bright,  particular  star  which  shone  with  such  re¬ 
splendent  light  in  the  Israelitish  firmament,  and  whose 
stupendous  schemes  for  the  gathering  together  of  the 
children  of  Israel  upon  this  continent  partook  of  the 


42 


character  of  inspiration.  When  the  great  Whig  party 
of  the  United  States  was  in  the  ascendancy,  and  its 
great  apostles,  Webster  and  Clay,  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  their  popularity  and  influence,  who  exercised  a  more 
absolute  control  over  the  destinies  of  that  party  than 
that  paragon  of  earthly  benevolence,  the  ever  genial 
and  universally-esteemed  Major  Noah  ;  and  no  wonder 
he  was  a  Whig,  for  the  letters  W.  H.  I.  G.  mean  “We 
hope  in  God.” 

His  faith  in  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  consid¬ 
ering  the  future  destiny  of  the  Jewish  race  was  firm 
and  not  to  be  shaken.  It  is  on  record  that  he  once 
stated  in  public  that  “  the  past  history  and  the  present 
condition  of  the  Jewish  people  bear  witness  to  the  divine 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  the  immediate  per¬ 
sonal  agency  of  God.”*  We  are  forgetting  every  shame 
and  obloquy  of  the  past,  and  have,  aside  from  a  firm 
belief  in  one  Supreme  Being,  no  higher  ambition  than 
to  be  useful,  enterprising,  active,  intelligent,  patriotic 
citizens.  The  Jew  is  becoming  a  property-holder  in 
every  city  of  the  country.  Diamonds  and  precious 
stones  as  a  commodity,  as  a  source  of  wealth  when  flee¬ 
ing  from  danger,  have  no  longer  any  charm — the  erec¬ 
tion  and  beautifying  of  homes,  the  building  of  marble 
palaces  and  stores  their  aim  and  object.  Their  syna¬ 
gogues,  temples,  hospitals,  orphan  asylums,  and  homes 
for  the  aged  are  not  only  models  of  architecture,  but 
ample  proof  of  the  munificence  of  the  Jew.  They  are 
prosperous  because  they  are  thrifty;  they  economize 
because  waste  is  sinful;  they  cling  together  because  in 
unity  lies  strength.  The  mystic  chord  that  binds  them 
together  is  centuries  of  torture  and  misfortune.  The 


*  When  he  was  running  for  sheriff  of  New  York  his  opponents  said  : 
“Think  of  it — if  a  Jew  should  hang  a  Christian.”  Noah  said:  “A 
nice  Christian  that  has  to  be  hung.” 


43 


blood  of  kings,  princes,  and  prophets  flows  as  pure 
to-day  as  in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon  in  the 
veins  of  the  Jew.  They  might  be  a  proud  people;  they 
are  only  ambitious  to  be  just  and  prosperous. 

I  concede  that  many  Jews  are  loud,  vain,  fond  of 
display,  but  they  are  only  the  excrescence  incident  to 
sudden  wealth,  based  on  the  freaks  of  fortune,  not  on 
education.  Shoddy  has  no  nationality,  and  is  despi¬ 
cable  in  whomsoever  and  wheresoever  found.  There  is 
a  lack  of  judgment  when  persons  intrude  by  virtue  of 
their  wealth.  Money  can  purchase  commodities  of  life, 
never  good  breeding;  a  gentleman  and  lady  are  born, 
and  by  education  refined,  and  that  is  not  restricted  to 
any  sect. 

And  while  I  concede  this  fully,  do  not  lay  it  at  the 
doors  of  Judaism;  do  not  use  the  word  Jew  as  signifying 
vulgarity,  rudeness,  and  fraud,  but  speak  of  them  as 
you  do  of  your  own  household  when  any  one  has  fallen 
by  the  wayside.  Time  and  again  the  charge  of  cow¬ 
ardice  has  been  alleged  against  us.  That  we  possess 
moral  courage  in  its  highest  sense,  I  have  shown  by 
Christian  writers.  That  we  are  physically  brave  (not 
reckless,  brutal,  and  bloodthirsty),  can  be  as  easily  shown. 
Our  history  proves  it.  Spanish  Generals,  the  Maccabees, 
the  marshals  of  Napoleon— Soult,  Ney,  Massena— were 
Jews.  In  all  modern  wars,  in  our  own  recent  contest, 
there  were  a  large  number  of  Jewish  officers  and  privates, 
and  where  we  are  free  to  act  we  are  never  recreant  to  the 
call  of  country.  We  have  fled  from  conscription  in 
Europe,  and  who  would  not  do  the  same  ? 

One  of  the  most  interesting  objects  in  a  broker’s 
office,  near  Wall  street,  is  a  small  frame,  conspicuously 
hung,  containing  a  square  of  paper  discolored  by  time 
and  exposure.  It  has  historic  and  mercantile  interest, 
as  being  one  of  the  first  bills  of  exchange  ever  drawn 
in  this  country,  and  reveals  the  straits  to  which  the 


44 

Revolutionary  officials  were  put  for  a  purchasing  me¬ 
dium.  It  is  as  follows  : 

“  Philadelphia,  17  th  March ,  1772. 

“Exchange  for  12,000  cwt.  of  Inspected  James  River 

Tobacco. 

“On  or  before  the  10th  day  of  April  next  pay  this 
my  first  of  Exchange  (second  and  third  not  paid)  to  Mr. 
Jacob  Cohen  and  Co.,  or  order,  Twelve  Thousand  Groce 
cwt.  of  good  and  Inspected  Janies  River  Tobacco,  for 
value  received  of 

“  Your  humble  serv’t, 

“Hoym  Solomon. 

“Edmund  Randolph,  Esq., 

“  Richmond,  Va. 

“Accepted:  Edmund  Randolph.” 

Eugene  J.  Jackson,  the  possessor  of  the  bill,  and  the 
grandson  of  Hoym  Solomon,  the  drawer,  thus  recites  the 
history:  At  the  time  the  bill  was  drawn  the  Americans 
were  receiving  valuable  but  secret  assistance  from  the 
French  Government,  which  was  not  then  prepared  to 
embroil  itself  with  the  English.  In  order  to  carry  out 
operations  successfully,  it  was  essential  that  the  French 
and  American  Governments  should  be  represented  by 
private  agents,  who  should  ostensibly  transact  this 
business  for  themselves. 

Beaumarchais,  author  of  the  “Marriage  of  Figaro,” 
was  the  representative  in  France,  and  Hoym  Solomon, 
then  an  eminent  banker  in  Philadelphia,  the  agent  in 
this  country.  Their  operations  were  varied,  but  con¬ 
sisted  largely  in  evading  the  vigilance  of  the  British, 
and  in  smuggling  through  to  the  American  lines  large 
quantities  of  the  munitions  of  war.  The  bill  above 
noted  was  drawn  up  for  the  purpose  of  paying  for  those 
goods.  The  Edmund  Randolph  referred  to  was  the 
famous  Governor  of  Virginia,  showing  how  active  we 
were  to  aid  the  Government  in  its  straits. 


45 


This  is  our  home,  our  Palestine ;  we  have  no  other 
ambition  than  to  prosper  in  this  land  of  our  adoption, 
to  whose  growth — material,  social,  and  intellectual 
we  have  contributed  our  share.  The  Revolution  saw 
our  race  its  warmest  advocates,  and  it  was  Jewish  money 
then,  as  it  is  Jewish  money  now,  that  gave  the  sinews 
of  war.  Were  Robert  Morris  alive,  he  could  tell  you 
how  the  Hoym  Solomons,  Cohens,  Phillipses,  and 
Gratzes  of  those  days  aided  and  strengthened  him. 
No  !  Jerusalem  is  an  honorable  past;  it  is  the  cradle  of 
Religion;  it  is  no  hope  for  the  future,  not  the  place 
from  which  will  spring  a  new,  active  life.  A  celebrated 
diplomat  said  once,  after  an  eventful,  changing  life, 
when  asked  to  take  service  again,  “  My  head  is  too  full 
of  tradition;  I  cannot  do  justice  to  the  present.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  cities  of  the  past  which  once  served 
high,  noble  purposes,  but  which  have  sunk  into  decay. 
Hellenism  no  longer  exists  where  born.  Athens  will 
not  again  be  the  centre  of  culture.  Rome  shines  yet  from 
the  reflex  of  its  grand  churches  and  sculpture,  but  only 
as  in  the  Middle  Ages ;  therefore,  it  will  never  be  the 
healthy  capital  of  a  new  dynasty.  The  same  is  true  of 
Jerusalem.  Honor  we  its  past,  but  we  no  longer  hope 
that  from  thence  is  to  flow  new  life.  We  do  not  want 
to  live  in  a  city  of  special  chosen  grace;  we  want  to  live 
in  a  city  of  active,  human  industry,  under  divine  favor, 
where  we  can  work  and  watch.  We  do  not  wish  to 
wander  among  relics  of  the  past,  even  if  they  are  hon¬ 
orable,  but  build  anew  for  the  glorious,  fraternal  future. 
Honor  to  Jerusalem  and  its  memories,  as  to  any  of  our 
great  dead,  but  we  have  no  desire  to  disturb  its  repose. 

And  now  in  conclusion  let  me  say  : 

In  a  republic  all  are  needful  to  the  common  weal, 
particularly  those  citizens  who  practice  charity,  perform 
benevolence,  educate  their  children,  lead  a  sober,  in¬ 
dustrious  life,  are  moral  and  patriotic  in  their  conduct, 


46 

and  do  not  fill  the  journals  with  domestic  and  church 
scandal.  The  Jew  has  faults  so  far  as  he  is  human,  but 
his  greatness  of  character,  his  virtues,  his  incisive  tal¬ 
ents  should  command  universal  respect.  Pity  the  first, 
but  honor  the  last,  for  then  we  can  with  Schiller  say  : 

The  freest  mother’s  children  free, 

With  steadfast  countenance  rise 
To  highest  beauty’s  radiancy, 

And  every  other  crown  despise. 

*****  * 

High  over  your  own  course  of  time 
Exalt  yourselves  with  pinions  bold, 

And  let  your  glass  sublime 
The  coming  century  unfold. 

****** 

Into  one  stream  of  light  thus  flow 
One  bond  of  truth  that  ne’er  decays  ! 


Date  Due 


AP  7  ’53 


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